


New Kids

by Gaarin



Category: Stray Kids (Band)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Enemies to Lovers, I promise that this is a Minsung AU, M/M, Music major, Posted also on my Twitter|hanniesaurus, Romantic Comedy, Side Ships, Social Media AU, University, a pinch of fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-28
Updated: 2020-11-23
Packaged: 2021-02-24 20:08:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 40
Words: 185,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22003777
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gaarin/pseuds/Gaarin
Summary: Minsung AU where to rid the nerves of starting uni, Felix and Jisung go play laser tag. While there, Minho accidentally runs into Jisung, kissing him in the process.Satisfied, Minho struts off, leaving a confused and slightly irritated Jisung behind.
Relationships: Han Jisung | Han/Lee Minho | Lee Know, Lee Felix/Seo Changbin
Comments: 350
Kudos: 655





	1. Chapter 1

**Lix**

( Sungie )

( What do you say we do something fun before we start uni tomorrow? )

  
  


( What did you have in mind? )

  
  


**Lix**

( There’s that cool laser tag place not too far from here. I’ve never been but it’s supposed to be really big inside )

  
  


( That sounds interesting 🤔 )

( Give me the details and I’ll meet you there )

  
  


**Lix**

[ location attached ]

  
  


Tomorrow marked the first day of starting university for the both of them. They were going to the same school since both of them applied to the musical field; Jisung being in the music producing program while Felix was going into dance. It was a bit nerve-wracking to say the least, but at least they would be dorming together so they wouldn’t be thrown into a new environment all alone.

They had already moved in so there wasn’t anything left to do except continuing to explore what the campus had to offer and wait for classes to start. Felix’s idea of going to play laser tag seemed to be a good one to put their minds at ease so Jisung quickly obliged. With his keys and phone in hand, he made his way to the location that his friend had sent him.

“Woah…” Jisung awed at the size of the building that he was led to. The exterior of the building made it seem like the inside area would be at least two stories to play in. “Impressive.”

“You should see the inside.”

Jisung jumped at the sudden voice beside him. He hadn’t noticed Felix approach him.

“While I was waiting on you, I took a peek inside. There’s so much space that I’m pretty sure we’re going to have a big team.”

  
  


**Jisung**

@hansome

Large team or not, we’re going to win this!

[ image attached ]

  
  


“So,” Jisung looked around at the lobby. “How exactly does this work?”

Felix ushered him over to a kiosk and tapped on its screen. “You just put your player name and what team you want to be on in this thing. Then we wait until it’s our time to go in,” he explained as he selected his own name and team then moved aside to let Jisung go.

He played around with the screen for awhile before finally deciding on a player name and adding himself to Felix’s team. There was no way he was going to let an experienced gamer be on the opposite team as him just for him to lose. The big screen above the entrance to the arena lit up with the names of both teams who were due to go in next. The clock ticked down from five minutes.

There were two teams with 10 people each. Twenty people seemed like a lot but Jisung was sure that once inside, it would seem like there were far less than that. Once the clock reached zero, an announcer called all participants of the next round to enter the room to get their vests and guns.

Felix entered first with several other people and Jisung trailing behind. He wasn’t a fan of crowds, but at least the room wasn’t that small so he could feel like he had more space. The room was dimly lit by a small overhead light on the ceiling and the glowing of the equipment. Two sides of the room were lined up with blue and red vests with matching guns attached to them. Each had a number that matched up to a unique player when they first signed up. Jisung and Felix found their respective numbers and put on their equipment as the instructor started giving everyone the run down.

“Your score will be shown on the monitors inside of the arena. There is one on each far side and on each level so you can always check to see your ranking,” the instructor explained and picked up a vest that had not been claimed.

“To shoot, make sure both of your hands are on your gun. It will not shoot if you only try to pull the trigger with no other support to it,” she instructed, demonstrating what she meant. “Also, please do not cover your sensors. Play this game fairly. Though there are two teams, individual rankings are shown as well as which team won. You cannot gain any points for yourself if you try to shoot at a teammate. Whether you work together or alone is your choice. It will all add up in the end.”

She set the vest back down on the rack in which she got it from and gestured to the monitor hanging on the wall. “You have 15 minutes to play. Once inside you will have 30 seconds to decide a starting point for yourself. When the game ends, please come back to the doors that you first entered through. We will project the final scores outside for you to see. Any questions?”

“What happens if we accidentally shoot a teammate,” someone piped up from the side of the room.

“Good question. If you accidentally shoot a teammate, that’s okay in terms of points. You won’t gain any points for shooting or lose any from being shot by someone on your team, but it will stall their shooting time. The only way you will lose points is if you get shot by an enemy,” she explained then added, “anymore questions?”

Silence filled the air, showing there to be no more concerns about the game. The instructor opened the door to the arena and stepped aside for everyone to enter inside. “Please head on in and find a place to start. The countdown will begin shortly.”

Trotting over tomorrow Felix’s side, Jisung followed him into the dark arena. Save for the neon decorations glowing on the walls and sides of the ramps as well as the dim black lights, there were no lights around. It was a large maze-like space with two staircases that led up to a second level. Jisung started to worry if he was going to be able to find any opposing players in this big of a space.

“Hey,” Jisung said suddenly as he followed Felix, weaving through many walls. “We’re going to work together, right?”

“Of course. I’ve got your back as long as you’ve got mine,” Felix said with a smile that glew under the black light.

Jisung couldn’t help but to laugh at how bright his teeth were, showing his own in the process. “We did good with black clothes, but our teeth are going to give us away.”

“Oh-“ A hand went to Felix’s mouth to cover his teeth. “You’re right. No smiling allowed. And let’s be real quiet so no one will hear us.”

Jisung nodded his head and continued on moving until they found a good spot where no one else was. Even though there were twenty players together, the size of the room allowed for the two of them to not be able to see any of them. Jisung couldn’t help but to feel a bit anxious as the countdown began over the speakers. He looked to Felix who seemed to be feeling the same.

“Alright, let's do this for the blue team,” Felix said as a singing sound rang through the air, signaling the game to start. He bolted off in a set direction, looking for someone who sported the color red. Jisung followed closely beside his friend, keeping a look out for anyone that tried to come at them.

The two headed up the ramp to the second floor in hopes of having an advantage of seeing more people. It was only that they weren’t the only ones who had that idea. A girl peeled out from the corner and shot Felix from an angle. Jisung had been blocked with the way he was at Felix’s side but shifted around to shoot the girl back, giving her a time delay for her next shot. It was enough time for them to run past and take cover before it loaded up again.

“Nice shot,” Felix cheered in a whisper as he ducked down behind a wall.

“Thanks.”

Felix peeked his head over the barrier they crouched behind and took a shot at a red player who was stalking by.

“Two points for us now,” whispered Jisung as he slowly looked around the corner and made his way to another barrier.

The two of them worked well as a team together, racking up points one by one. Time went by, leaving only about 5 minutes left on the clock. Felix led his partner in crime over to a small monitor on the wall to check the scores thus far. Their team was currently in the lead by 200 points with Felix being in the top 3 players and Jisung in the top 5.

“We’re doing really good. But we don’t have much time left to widen our winning gap,” Jisung murmured in a low voice to avoid being overhead by someone else.

“Let’s go keep our gold,” Felix said and ran off from the monitor. He was a bit too quick the time for Jisung to keep up with his movements. A maze of walls surrounded Jisung as he tried to find his little Aussie friend. “Felix… Felix?” He tried his best to keep his voice just below a whisper, hoping only his friend would hear.

“Fe-“

Just as he turned, he bumped into someone and just perfectly to where their lips met the other’s. Jisung’s eyes widened in surprise at the act and stepped back, holding a hand to his mouth in shock. It definitely wasn’t who he was looking for. It was a boy on the opposing team who was just a tad bit taller than him, but not tall enough to see any difference between them both. He had shorter dark hair that was covered by a hood. The unknown boy’s look of shock was soon replaced with a slight smirk after giving Jisung a once over.

Frozen in place, Jisung could only manage to stare at the boy wildly. Why was he smirking? Was he not going to apologize? Before he could even open his mouth, said boy shot Jisung with his gun right on his sensor and made himself vanish from his vision. What a cocky move.

“W-what the hell? Hey! Come back here, you punk!”

In his attempt to call the boy back, he only let himself be discovered by more rivals. Since he got shot and his time delay was still going, all he could do was try to make a run for it and find cover. Luckily, Felix happened to find him and pull him back behind a wall for cover as he took care of those following him.

Jisung put a hand to his vest, being able to feel his frantic heart beating underneath the leather and plastic.

Once the coast was clear, Felix looked back to Jisung in question. “What happened? I turned around and you were gone.”

“I lost sight of you and all of the sudden this guy runs into me and we kiss,” he blurted, frantically throwing his arms into the air.

The gun in Felix’s hands dropped out of astonishment at that. His mouth fell agape as he tried to process what was just said. “You did what?”

“I was looking for you,” Jisung started to explain more slowly now. “And as I was turning around this guy bumped straight into me. And in the process of that we accidentally kissed. Then he shot me and left smirking like some cocky bastard,” he muttered with crossed arms. It was definitely going to be a while before he let this one go.

Felix began to laugh quietly once he started to imagine it. “That’s pretty funny, honestly. Who was it?”

Jisung lightly smacked the Aussie on the arm, annoyed by his laughing. “It wasn’t funny! And I don’t know who it was. Just someone from the other team. It’s kind of dark in here so I couldn’t really see their face all that well. But I’m sure I could probably pick him out in a line up.”

Feigning hurt, Felix rubbed his attacked arm. “You’ll probably see him when we leave. We only have a couple minutes left so let’s make it count. So don’t go wandering off and kissing strangers this time,” he teased before setting off to get his last few points in before time was up.

Jisung mockingly mumbled something unintelligent before keeping up and shooting all opponents that he crossed paths with.

A buzzing noise signalled through the arena, informing that the game had come to an end and that everyone should return back to where they entered from. The black lights were replaced with actual lights so everyone could see the exit better.

“How do you think we did?”

Felix shrugged casually. “I honestly think we did pretty good. But we’re about to find out.”

Once inside of the lobby once again, Felix made a beeline for the big monitor hanging on the wall to see the scores. Jisung on the other hand had other plans. He scouted the area looking for hoodie boy. He wasn’t sure why exactly he was even looking for him other than the fact that he wanted an apology for the way he acted.

“Oh, look Jisung. I’m 2nd and you’re 6th. Wow, you went down in rank since the last time we looked.” Felix looked to his side to where Jisung had previously been standing only to find the space vacant. “Jisung? Geez… why does he keep running off like that?”

Jisung stood near a wall with crossed arms and a foot tapping impatiently on the ground. He had moved back to where he was hoping he would be able to find hoodie boy in the crowd. But it had seemed like the one in question had disappeared completely from the lobby.

“What are you doing?” A voice called from beside him. Felix.

“I was really hoping to teach that guy a lesson for bumping into me and running off in the way he did,” he remarked.

Felix gave him a look of disbelief. “Are you still hung up about that?” A sigh escaped his lips. “Come on, let’s sign up to play another round. We have all night. And who knows? Maybe you’ll see the dude again in there.”

It was a long shot to be in another match with hoodie boy, but regardless, they were here to have fun and get rid of all of their stress. The two of them stayed for another hour until they began to feel hungry. Though, that still wasn’t enough to keep Jisung’s irritation at bay.

  
  


**Jisung**

@hansome

So there I was just minding my own business, and this b!tch runs into me, shoots me, and walks off with the biggest smirk on his face

**Felix** @fabulix

He failed to mention that they accidentally kissed

  
  


**Jeongin**

@notyouroppa

Is this what people do when they go to uni? If so, I’ll pass

  
  


Take-out was ordered and brought back to the freshmans’ dorm room. They figured it would just be easier to go ahead and unwind there rather than stay out later at a restaurant to eat. It was one of the smaller dorms but they were alright with them considering the fact that they were lucky enough to get to dorm with each other rather than some stranger. It had what they needed; a bedroom that they shared, a kitchen, a small sitting area, and a bathroom. And it wasn’t like they would stay in the dorm for the entirety of their stay. They would most likely be at their respective studios to work on projects.

“I’ve got to say,” Felix spoke up through a mouth full of food. “I’m excited for tomorrow but also nervous.”

“What do _you_ have to be nervous about? I’m the nervous one here. You’re a social butterfly and everyone has always liked you.” Honestly, he wasn’t sure what Felix had to worry about. He had always been the popular one in high school who everyone was cool with. Not to mention, he was a talented dancer and he was sure to excel here with what he had to offer.

Felix rubbed the back of his head absent-mindedly. “I don’t know. Maybe it’s just because it’s a new environment for me. We’re freshman, afterall. Maybe our seniors will be way beyond us and won’t give us a chance. I’d like to make friends that I can learn from while I’m here.”

Setting the food down on the table, Jisung moved beside his friend and put an arm around his shoulders. “Don’t worry about any of that. This is a learning experience for the both of us. And don’t forget that you’re not alone here. You always got me to have your back.”

The gesture caused Felix to smile in response, seeming to be more relaxed now. “You’re right. I’m sure once I get inside the actual classes tomorrow, I’ll feel better.”

  
  


**Felix**

@fabulix

We were supposed to get rid of all of our worries earlier so why do I still feel anxious?

**Jeongin** @notyouroppa

Don’t worry. You’re going to do great, sweetie

**Felix** @fabulix

@notyouroppa 🥺😭💕


	2. Chapter 2

Sunlight streamed through the blinds in the early morning, filling up the space and especially landing on Jisung’s face. They forced him awake despite his alarm not having gone off yet. He was going to have to fix that later. For the time being he buried his head underneath his pillow to try and continue sleeping. It was only that his alarm decided to finally ring only five minutes later.

“Argh! Seriously…” Jisung mumbled with irritance. It was the worst feeling to wake up just before your alarm. Without even looking he clicked the side of his phone to shut off the noise. He could already tell that this would be one heck of a day.

On the other side of the room laid Felix who was trying to stir awake. “What are you saying seriously about,” he asked through a yawn. He rubbed at his eyes tiredly as he tried to will himself to be more awake.

“Remind me to fix the blinds later so the sun doesn’t shine on me again,” Jisung answered before rolling out of bed and stretching once on the floor.

Felix rolled to his stomach and began searching for his phone so he could set a reminder in his phone. “Got it. Are you going to breakfast in a minute?”

“Yeah,” Jisung called from the bathroom. “I just need to change. I’ll be right out.”

“I can change out here so take your time.”

  
  


**Felix**

@fabulix

Day one, we can do this!

[ image attached ]

  
  


**Jisung**

@hansome

Forget class, I’m staying where the food is

**Jeongin** @notyouroppa

It’s only the first day and you’re already trying to skip

  
  


**Jisung**

@hansome

WAIT THEY’RE HAVING CHEESECAKE FOR DESSERT??!??!

  
  


“You do realize that it’s later tonight that they have cheesecake, right? Are you even free then?” Felix asked through eating his breakfast.

Jisung was already way ahead of him, currently scrolling through his schedule. His mouth stretched into a thin line at the looks of it all. “Maybe if my class gets out early…” He put his phone down in favor of his spoon with a sigh.

“You can still come and see if they have any left by the time you’re done,” Felix pointed out. He had just finished his food and was waiting on the other to do the same so they could walk with each other to their first class.

  
  


They had the bright idea of having English as their first class in the morning. No one had to know that they were both fluent so it was going to be an easy first class and  _ hopefully _ an easy A. That was, as long as the teacher didn’t kick them out for being beyond the standards. Felix would have to keep the fact that he was actually from Australia on the down-low in that case. Who knew, maybe the rest of the class would be equally fluent?

The classroom was the typical smaller size as it didn’t need room for computers or anything. It had a few rows of desks that all faced the board where the lecturer would be. Above else, it didn’t seem like a very intimidating environment. The room was empty save for a couple of people who had already claimed their spots in the middle of one of the rows. Felix took it upon himself to head towards them, stopping at the end of the row.

“Ah… excuse me. Would you guys mind if we sat with you?”

The two of them stopped their conversation, looking up at the nervous looking boys who stood to the side of them. Felix was relieved to see that they didn’t seem annoyed with him interrupting and loosened the grip he had on his bag.

“Not at all,” the lighter haired boy said with a warm smile, gesturing for them to sit beside them.

“Thank you,” Felix bowed slightly to them before sitting beside them with Jisung at the end of the row. “I’m Felix by the way, and this is my friend, Jisung. We’re freshmen.”

“Nice to meet you guys,” the black haired boy said, leaning around his friend so he could see them better. “I’m Hyunjin and this is Seungmin. We’re also freshmen. How old are the both of you?”

“We’re a day apart,” Felix started and put a hand on his chest. “I’m September 15 of 2000,” he said then pointed at Jisung. “And he’s September 14.”

Hyunjin began to smile at their answer. “Then that means I’m the oldest out of all of us.”

“I’m sorry about him in advance,” Seungmin whispered. “He has a bit of an ego. I should know, we went to the same school and now we dorm together,” he said, though he didn’t look like he was very bothered by him. “Anyways, if you ever need any help in here, we got you covered.”

“Thanks for the offer,” Jisung said. “Actually though, we’re both fluent. We just took this for an easy A. Also he’s from Australia.” His voice was low as if he were scared someone else would overhear even though they were the only people in the room.

Hyunjin’s eyes grew big at that, suddenly leaning on the desktop to move closer to Felix. Seungmin propped his arm out on the table to keep him at bay. “Australia? That’s so cool! Which part?”

“S-Sydney?” He was a bit confused at the sudden movements from the other to which Seungmin took note of.

“He’s just a big fan of the place,” he explained then nudged Hyunjin to sit back down correctly. “Don’t scare him away.”

The newly found friends continued to chat amongst themselves and got to know each other better before the rest of the students and teacher arrived. Hyunjin has especially been pleased to find out that Felix would be in the same dance class as him. And the fact that Hyunjin was also a dance major made him relax a little more with him. They all found it funny how they took English and first thing in the morning at that for all of the same reasons. In the end they became well acquainted and exchanged contact information.

  
  


**Seungmin**

@songmin

Hyunjin actually didn’t scare away someone from Australia and became friends with them? Maybe today won’t be so bad after all

**Hyunjin** @hwangjin

I’m hurt by how little faith you had in me

**Seungmin** @songmin

@hwangjin ): ):

  
  


The class ended earlier than scheduled, letting the four of them stay and talk until their next classes started. Eventually the two sets of friends switched with Felix and Hyunjin, and Jisung and Seungmin going their separate ways since both pairs had their next classes close to one another. They all agreed that they would have to hang out together once everyone was settled into their schedules. It seemed like the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

  
  


**Jisung**

@hansome

Maybe I was wrong about being nervous. Everyone seems really nice

  
  


The rest of the scheduled classes for the day passed by like a breeze for the once worried Jisung. His last class ended a little bit early, leaving him extremely grateful. All that had been on his mind since this morning was getting that cheesecake in the common’s area. Only problem was that he ended up getting mildly lost. He did, however, find his way back to where he needed to go, but it happened to be too late.

  
  


**Jisung**

@hansome

Dear God,

Please. I just wanted my cheesecake.

Signed, a very sad soul

**Felix** @fabulix

You’re class didn’t get out early for the first day?

**Jisung** @hansome

@fabulix No, it did… I just couldn’t remember where I was 👉👈 By the time I found it, all of it was gone

  
  


**Felix**

@fabulix

Dear God,

You’re going to have to pay extra close attention to this one

Signed, a very concerned friend

  
  


**Jisung**

@hansome

＿|￣|○

  
  


“Well, shit…” Jisung sighed defeatedly. He hadn’t been this heartbroken since that time he accidentally dropped his birthday cake on the floor. Curse him getting lost like that. There was cheesecake at stake and he let it slip from his grasp. “I looked forward to that all day, too.”

“Uhm… Are you alright, mate?”

It definitely didn’t seem like he was with the way his forehead was pressed against the wall and arms hanging by his sides. He lost the will to do anything but mope. “Yeah, I’m good, Felix.”

“Felix? Who’s Felix?”

Jisung picked his head up to find not Felix, but a taller and older looking blonde-haired boy standing beside him with a concerned look on his face. He quickly stood up straight when he realized it wasn’t who he thought it was. “Oh! I’m sorry, I thought you were my friend, Felix. He also says  _ mate _ so I got confused there for a second,” he explained, rubbing the back of his neck in embarrassment. He cleared his throat before continuing. “Ah anyways, you see… this morning I saw that they were going to have cheesecake and that’s my favorite food. But I got lost on my way here and now they’re out.”

He just hoped that he didn’t sound ridiculous but with the way that the older was looking at him, he didn’t seem to take it that way. Instead what he said shocked Jisung.

“Oh, really? Actually, I have a piece if you want it. I got it earlier, but I got full so I’m not going to eat it. You can have it.”

Jisung looked like he was about to cry at his offer. “R-really? I can have it? You would do that for someone you don’t know?”

“I mean, you really look like you’ve been waiting for the entire day. Honestly you can have it. Come sit with me and my friend.”

Jisung didn’t know what else to do other than hug the older in gratitude. “Thanks so much, hyung!”

The blonde haired boy seemed startled by the sudden closeness but didn’t pull away. Instead he smiled “You’re welcome. Now come on,” he said as he led Jisung to the table where his friend was sitting.

  
  


**Jisung**

@hansome

Dear God,

I’m sorry I ever doubted you

Thanks for my cake

Signed, a true believer

  
  


**Felix**

@fabulix

Dear God,

Damn you work fast

Signed, a less concerned friend

  
  


**Felix**

@fabulix

P.S

I’m sorry I cussed.

  
  


“I’m Chan, by the way,” Blondie said then introduced the other boy who was at the table with a laptop in front of him. “And this is my friend, Changbin. Also your cake is right there.”

Changbin, as he was called, sported mostly black clothing with a hood pulled up over his headphones and black hair. Jisung figured that there must not have been anything playing with the way he reacted to his name being said. He watched the dark boy for a moment, trying to get a read on him. He didn’t seem like he talked much nor that he was very interested for that matter. Nonetheless he was still polite enough to greet him back with a nod of his head.

“Hello,” Jisung bowed slightly to them before taking a seat beside Chan. He was afraid that Changbin might not enjoy the company of someone else and wondered if he was even cool with Chan being there. “I’m Jisung. I just started here as a music production major.”

Changbin glanced from his laptop screen at that. It seemed like Jisung had suddenly gained his interest.

“Oh no kidding? We’re also in that major. I’m a 4th year and he’s a 2nd year, but we work together a lot. He’s actually working on something right now,” Chan said, motioning to the laptop that sat on the table.

So they were friends, then. And both production majors ahead of him at that. Jisung eyed the back of the laptop curiously. “Can I… uh… Can I listen? Even just a little part? It’d be cool to know what my seniors do.”

Changbin didn’t say anything in response. Rather, he just looked at Chan for his thoughts. Chan held his hand out for the headphones that rested on Changbin’s head, signaling for him to pass them over. He silently complied and removed the headphones from himself so Jisung could put them on. Once they were on, he moved his eyes back to the screen and swiped his finger over the touchpad to play something.

It started out as purely instrumental but after about ten seconds there was a steady rap verse. Jisung’s eyes grew big as he listened, completely in awe. These guys hadn’t graduated yet but here they were creating something that sounded so professional. His head moved in time with the rhythm of the song. Eventually the music stopped and Jisung looked at the both of them with approval. “Yah…” he said as he handed the headphones back. “That was amazing! I loved it. Who was that rapping? They were spitting straight fire.”

Changbin seemed to hide deeper into his dark hoodie at the compliment. It was as if he were trying to make his presence less noticeable. “That was me.”

Oh, so that’s what his voice sounded like. It matched his look and Jisung thought it sounded really nice, though a bit different than the rapping sounded. The rap was filled with passion and perhaps a mix of anger, but his voice was calm.

“Hyung, that was really good! And to think you haven’t even graduated yet but you’re that talented,” he said then turned to Chan. “Did you also help with that?”

Chan shook his head. “That one was all him, but I can show you some of my stuff later on if you’re interested.”

Jisung was quick to nod his head eagerly. “Yeah, and I can share some of mine too. Though, I really don’t think it’s going to be as good as what I just heard.”

“Here,” Chan offered his phone to him. “Add yourself here and I’ll text you later on. I’ve got something I need to do, but feel free to stay and enjoy that cake.”

He accepted the phone to put his contact information in before waving goodbye. Without him there he felt nervous to try and talk to Changbin some more so he focused on his cake. It was only that the mentioned was also too shy but still slid him a paper with his information on it before bowing slightly and excusing himself from the table.

  
  


**Changbin**

@spearbin

This seems promising?

**Chan** @cbang

The answer you’re looking for is, yes.

  
  



	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I’m just going to ignore the fact that I thought I had already posted this chapter a few weeks ago but realized I had not while I was working on chapter 4 (^_^;)

Felix and Hyunjin met each other once more in their dance class. It was a smaller class of about ten or twelve students that was held in one of the school’s many dance studios. One side of the room was lined with mirrors and another was lined with windows on the top half of the wall so people on the outside would be able to see in if they were passing by. The room was spacious enough for all students to be able to have plenty of room to move around without hitting one another.

The class started out with introductions of everyone, what kind of dance they were into the most, and at the end of it all they were all allowed some time to show off any number if they wished to do so. Raising a hand slowly, Felix volunteered to go first. If he were going to make friends, this was his chance to do so. He decided on playing the music that Jisung had made for him as a graduation present. He thought that it was totally his style and choreographed it in just a weeks time.

“Here, hold this for me so I don’t step on it,” he said, handing his phone to Hyunjin before stancing himself far enough away from the rest of the students. Nodding as a cue, Hyunjin tapped the play button on the phone, a melody streaming out from it. His mouth fell open at the sight of Felix dancing in tune with the music. He was graceful with his moves and something else that Hyunjin couldn’t quite figure out a term for. Above all else, Felix was blowing everyone away.

The music faded as Felix cleanly ended his routine. There was a beat of silence. Felix began to worry that it wasn’t good until a roar of clapping filled the air. A bright smile appeared on his face and he bowed slightly as gratitude.

  
  


**Hyunjin**

@hwangjin

I think I’m screwed

**Seungmin** @songmin

False.

  
  


“Holy fuck,” someone suddenly said from the crowd. “Oh, I’m sorry. But what was that? That was amazing.”

Felix rubbed the back of his neck, flustered. “My friend produced the music for me when we graduated high school,” he explained. “I just did what I felt with the music.”

“You made that yourself?” Hyunjin asked, still shocked at the performance.

Felix nodded. “Yeah, it took awhile, but I think it turned out pretty well.”

The teacher stepped up to pat him on the back. “That was marvelous, Felix. Absolutely stunning. I can’t wait to see how well you’ll grow once this semester is over,” she praised them looked to the rest of the class. “Who’s next?”

Silence filled the studio once more. Everyone’s eyes were down casted. No one seemed to think that they could follow up to what they had just witnessed. After a second to think, Hyunjin slowly stepped ahead of everyone.

  
  


**Hyunjin**

@hwangjin

Stay tuned?

**Seungmin** @songmin

This is my favorite channel

  
  


“I’d like to give it a go,” he mustered out, finally. “It’s not with my own song, but I did make the dance.”

Felix tapped out with him, taking his phone once the other pulled up his song. Hyunjin moved to the empty space of the room and looked at his new friend who gave him a supportive thumbs up. He could do this, he thought. Felix waited until Hyunjin took a deep breath and queued the music for him.

It wasn’t far off from the style that Felix had just performed. Even the aura of it was very similar. Hyunjin could feel the gazes of everyone in the room as he moved, but especially Felix’s. The music faded out and Hyunjin peeked behind his bangs to dare to look at the rest of his classmates. Was it good? Did it add up to what Felix did?

“Honestly I think you two should work together this semester,” the instructor commented after everyone was done clapping. “I think it would work out for the best that way.”

Hyunjin glanced to where Felix was, watching him approach him. “Hyunjin! That was awesome. I really liked it.” He handed the phone back to him. “If you’re up for it, we could definitely work together in here.”

“Yeah, of course.” Hyunjin smiled more easily now. He was relieved to know that Felix thought his dance was good. To make things better, the rest of the students didn’t seem up to showing what they had. Maybe after awhile they would warm up to it. Nonetheless the instructor dismissed everyone, leaving only Hyunjin and Felix left in the room to chat amongst themselves about their dancing history. After the last student had left, one more came in and approached the two. 

“Hello~” announced a dark brown haired boy who was in between in height with them. “Sorry for the intrusion, but I saw you both dance and I had to come introduce myself. I’m Minho. I’m a 3rd year dance major.”

“Oh hello,” they both said in unison while bowing slightly. “I’m Felix and this is Hyunjin. We’re both first years.”

Minho’s expression changed into something that looked like he was trying to mentally do algebra. “Felix? Now that’s not a very common name in these parts.”

“I’m actually from Australia,” he answered, causing Minho to instantly forget about whatever he was going to say before.

“Australia? Hey, I know someone from Australia. I’ll introduce you two sometime whenever he’s not busy. His name is Chan,” he said before he took a moment to get his mind back on track with what he came here for. “Anyways, I think both of you are really talented for some first years.”

“Oh, did you really think so? If you’re a third year, you’re probably a lot better than us, though,” Hyunjin pointed out.

Minho shrugged nonchalantly. “I don’t like to brag– okay maybe I do, but I’m actually at the top of my class in studio dance. But listen, I would appreciate it if both of you would come help me with something I’ve been trying to put together.”

It was only the first day of the semester and he was already working on something? Either the higher ranking dance classes were intense with starting their assignments early or he was just a passionate dancer that never stopped working. Whatever it was, both Hyunjin and Felix seemed keen on obliging. And who knew, maybe this would push them even further advanced than they already were. Felix pulled out his phone to text Jisung quickly as Minho led them to a separate practice room that he used often.

  
  


**Lix**

( Jisung! I’m going to be there later than I thought so don’t wait on me to eat )

  
  


( Huh? What are you doing? )

  
  


**Lix**

( Well, some third year saw the little dance performance that we did in class today and he invited us to go help him with what he was working on. )

  
  


( Oh?? What did you do? )

  
  


**Lix**

( The music you made for me~ )

( Everyone was shocked. The only other person that had the nerve to dance after me was Hyunjin )

( He’s not bad either! We’re similar in style )

  
  


( 😎 )

( I knew people would impressed )

  
  


**Lix**

( But anyways! We’re going to be with him for awhile )

( I think it will help us a lot )

( I just wanted to let you know so you’re not worried about where I am )

  
  


( Do you want me to get you something to eat for later? )

  
  


**Lix**

( You don’t have to 🥺 )

( Also don’t forget to fix the window so you don’t get blinded again! )

  
  


Oh yeah, that was something he needed to do. So Jisung would be alone for awhile. It was only the first day and already he was left alone. It was no surprise that Felix was already making friends and staying out with them. Everyone was always drawn to him within their first interactions with him. Jisung on the other hand? It wasn’t that he was excluded from things or even disliked. It just took him a little bit longer to comfortably be friends with people.

He needed some friends, he thought then suddenly remembered Chan and Changbin from earlier. They were both production majors. Maybe they would let him in if he tried to put his foot in the door. The window would have to wait for now, he had a mission to do.

He cracked out his laptop, placing it on the small desk in the room. Rapping his fingers against the desktop, he stared at the list of songs and melodies he had created. What would be good to send? Was anything even on their level? They already had a lot of practice since they’ve been at the university longer than he had. He has only done what he knew without being taught anything. Worry began to fill his head, making him run his fingers through his hair and sigh deeply.

  
  


( Jeongin )

( I’m having a hard time deciding what tracks to send to some production major hyungs I met today )

( I’m worried they won’t like what I send )

  
  


**Jeongin**

( What do you mean they won’t like it? )

( You’ve heard your own stuff, right? )

( Everything you make is amazing )

  
  


( You’re just being nice 🤧 )

( I got to hear something one of them was working on and I was shocked it was so good )

  
  


**Jeongin**

( Your stuff is too )

( Listen )

( I’ve gotta go for right now, but just pick what YOU like best. Don’t think about what you think others like. Think about what you like )

  
  


Jeongin had a point. If Jisung was going to show what his style was, he was going to have to channel his inner self. Sure, he wasn’t a fan of everything he has ever produced, but there was definitely some things he was actually proud of. The only issue was, he was scared of something he cherished not being appreciated by others as much as he did. He took a deep breath before opening his email and attaching three things he felt were his best creations. With a click of a button, the email was sent to sit in Chan’s inbox.

“That was stressful,” he murmured as he closed the lid to the laptop. But it was all over now. All that was left for him to do was wait for the older to listen to them and respond. Hopefully it would be a positive response. He wouldn’t think about it anymore. Instead, he was going to find a darker curtain for that window.


	4. Chapter 4

**Minho**

@meowho

I feel like I’m forgetting something…

**Chan** @cbang

Your keys?

**Minho** @meowho

@cbang I don’t think it’s a tangible object /: I’ll think of it later

  
  


Minho pondered over what he could possibly be forgetting. Was it his keys? That would be a bad thing to forget considering he dormed alone so there would be no one to let him in. With a quick pat to his pockets he decided no, that wasn’t quite it. He hummed, taking a sip of the cold drink that sat in front of him.

“Hyung. You look constipated, are you alright?”

It was hard for Hyunjin to mind his own business when the other held that same expression for what felt like an eternity at this point.

“What?”

The expression on Minho’s face faded as slight confusion replaced it. He hadn’t realized he had been staring blankly in front of him for so long. Even though Hyunjin has just pointed it out too, he still hadn’t seemed to know what he was talking about.

“I feel like I’ve forgotten about something and it’s driving me mad,” he muttered as he propped his chin up onto his hand.

“I hope it wasn’t anything important. Or if it was, it might not have been that important if you forgot,” Felix piped up after finishing off his own drink. Grabbing his bag, he stood up and gave a small wave to his two new friends. “I’m going to go back to my dorm now. My friend is probably being lonely without me,” he said and added as he backed off, “I’ll see you guys later.”

The remaining two both waved to him before Hyunjin looked back to Minho to ask, “so when are you going to introduce us to the other Australian?”

  
  


Felix made his way back at his dorm room a little after 9pm. If Jisung was there as well, he knew he would not have fallen asleep yet so there was no reason to try to be quiet about entering. Instead, he swung the door open and called out in very loud English, “ _hyungy, I’m home!”_

Little did he know that would only startle his friend and this was definitely a bad time for that. A crashing sound and a slight shout of surprise was heard from across the dorm. “Sungie?” Felix asked in a concerned voice as he shut the door behind him. “Are you okay?”

  
  


**Felix**

@fabulix

...whoops?

  
  


He followed the sound to their bedroom, finding Jisung laying on the floor with a curtain rod laying on top of him. He had been in the process of trying to put up the new curtain he got when Felix’s voice caused him to fall from the chair he had been standing on. In none of his defense, it wasn’t the brightest idea to try to put the curtain up by standing on their swiveling office chair.

“Ouch… that really hurt,” Jisung groaned as he tried to push himself up into a seated position but stopped at the pain in his wrist. “Ow fuck, okay.”

“Here,” Felix stooped down to help the other to sit on the chair. “Let me help.” He couldn’t help but feel bad since he was the one that startled the poor boy. “I’m sorry about that. I didn’t know.”

Jisung shook his head. There was nothing for his friend to apologize for. He had been reckless himself and just so happened to be doing it at the wrong time. “It’s alright. I probably should have used something else to stand on but it was the closest thing I saw.”

Felix looked him over, eyes stopping on his arm that was now slightly bleeding. He must have cut himself on the small table edge as he fell. “Oh, you’re bleeding. Hold on, I’ll be right back,” he said as he hurried to another part of their dorm. He came back a few minutes later with a bandage and a small bag of ice.

It was a bit funny, Jisung thought. Felix tended to be a bit of a clutz sometimes and sometimes it would affect other people too. But he always took responsibility for his actions. Jisung liked that about him and that was probably the reason he was so okay with the mishap and quietly let him patch up his arm.

“Now just hold that ice there on your wrist and I’ll finish putting this up for you.”

Felix carried a sturdy, non-swiveling chair over to the window. He picked the curtain from off of the floor before climbing on the chair carefully and setting the rod down on the hooks. With this, the room was instantly darkened. It was a dark blue blackout curtain. One that Jisung knew would prevent the sun from disturbing his sleep from here on out. It would also keep the room cooler since more of the sun was blocked out. But above all else, the dimmed room was more calming to the both of them.

“Ah, yes… now I can get some sleep,” Jisung sighed blissfully, rolling his chair until it stopped beside his bed so he could flop down on it. With a push from his foot, he sent the chair away from the bed and back over to where their desk was. Or at least he got it in the general area of the desk. Felix pushed it into place and removed the other chair as well before rummaging through his belongings for his sleep clothes.

“I know I go to class before you do tomorrow, but do you still want to eat breakfast with me?” Felix asked as he gathered up some clothes.

It was only an hour difference between their first classes they had tomorrow. Jisung could spend that time exploring the campus a little more so hopefully he won’t get lost again. Or, he could sleep in for a little longer. But he wouldn’t do that to his friend since he seemed like he was hoping for his company. “Sure, just wake me when you get up,” he said before rolling onto his side, already forgetting about his hurt arm. “Nope, not sleeping on that arm tonight.”

“Try to keep that ice on your wrist,” Felix called from the other room. “Hopefully it will be better in the morning.”

“Aye aye.” Jisung got into a comfortable position before he was able to lay the bag of ice on his wrist to where he knew it wouldn’t fall off. Or at least until he moved in his sleep, that is.

The lights flicked off once Felix re-entered the room, leaving it almost pitch black. He felt his way to his bed only having stumbled against one thing in the process. Eventually he would learn the layout by heart so he wouldn’t run into anything else. He crawled into bed and made sure the right alarm was set on his phone before he laid it beside him. “Goodnight, Sungie,” he said, however the said boy was already asleep.

  
  
  


The next morning came with no light shining through the window to wake anyone up. A gentle humming sound of Felix’s alarm went off from underneath his body, slowly stirring him awake. He groaned as he reached under his stomach to grab his phone and shut it off. He rolled onto his back and stared up at the ceiling. It still seemed like it was night time with the way the sunlight was blocked out. If it hadn’t been for the time on his phone showing 8:00am, he would have thought he set the wrong time for the alarm.

With a slow motion, Felix moved out of bed and walked up to the window where he slowly pulled the blinds open. However he still left the curtain alone so that there wouldn’t be such a harsh light against his eyes. It was a comfortable amount to be able to see in the room as well as refrain from being blinded. Felix then took a few steps over to where Jisung laid fast asleep in his bed. “Sungie,” he whispered against the other’s ear, voice still not quite ready to be used. “Are you still coming with me to breakfast in a little bit?”

Jisung stayed balled up underneath his covers, not even bothering to open his eyes. He was definitely still half asleep with the way he groaned an incoherent response in return. Felix gave him a gentle shake, trying to wake him up a little more.

“Break. Fast. Yes? No?”

“Hng… yeah… I’m coming,” Jisung murmured almost inaudibly as he stretched his limbs out. He flopped over to his stomach. Slowly but surely he was going to get out of the bed. In the meantime Felix left him alone to get ready.

The little Aussie came back a few minutes later to find Jisung having already dressed, but still laying down in his bed. “Are you ready?” Felix asked to which the other just rolled his legs off the bed to stand up carefully. He looked tired but more awake now than a few minutes ago.

The two of them grabbed their stuff and headed straight to the dining area. Lucky for them it was a fairly short walk from their dorm. They each got something to eat before looking for a table, stopping when they saw a familiar face sitting alone.

“Hyunjin?”

The dark haired boy looked up from his phone at the sound of his name being called. His bag was propped up on the table like a pillow of some sort so he could lean on it while watching something on his phone. Glancing back down for a second, he tapped a finger to his screen to pause whatever he was playing.

“Oh hey guys!” Hyunjin smiled brightly to the both of them. It seemed like he had been up for awhile with the way he moved. “Come join me, I’ve been so lonely.”

Jisung and Felix set their things down on the floor beside the table before they took their seats in front of Hyunjin. “Did Seungmin already go to class,” Felix questioned, wondering why he had been alone.

“Seungmin? No, no. He just likes doing his own things in the morning, but he gets me up too since I almost always sleep through my alarm,” he explained. It was hard to tell whether or not he felt sad about it or not. Regardless, he seemed thrilled that the two were there with him.

“Meanwhile, Felix over here personally asked me to come eat with him even though I don’t have class for another hour,” Jisung commented through eating bits of a muffin. “Not that I mind, though,” he quickly added before Felix had the chance to feel bad.

“Ohh…” Hyunjin propped his head up with an arm as he searched his phone for something. “I have class soon, some basic history class. I just hope it’s not going to be hard.”

Felix popped his head up at that. “History? Which class?”

Hyunjin clicked on the picture of his schedule and zoomed in on the class he was talking about before he turned it around to show them. Apparently it was the same one Felix was in with the way he got excited. “We’re starting to have a lot of classes together. Now it won’t feel so bad going in since we already know each other.”

It was nice for Felix to have someone to go to class with, Jisung thought. He knew how worried he was about starting college and meeting new people and he was relieved with how well things were going for him thus far. He wondered if he would be able to feel the same way soon, but his thoughts were cut off by a nudging against his side.

“Hey, not to alarm you or anything, but that guy over there keeps staring at us,” Felix whispered close to Jisung. “He kind of looks scary. Do you want to walk with us for awhile?”

Jisung tried his best to conspicuously glance around so he could figure out who it was that Felix was worried about, but he failed to see anyone looking their way. “What? Who?”

“He’s down a little bit across from us. The black hoodie.”

Scanning the area once more, Jisung’s eyes finally fell on the boy he was talking about. Sitting alone at a table a bit out of the way of everything was Changbin. He sported the same black hoodie from the previous day, hood pulled over his head and everything. He however had not been looking at them at the time and didn’t seem to realize that he was being stared at himself.

“Oh. Him.” A small sigh fell out with the words as he said them. He was relieved to know that it wasn’t just some stranger. Or, at least he knew _of_ this person. Not very well, but he did know him. “No, it’s okay. You two can go ahead, I’m going to go over there.”

Felix flinched slightly at his response. “What? You’re going to go over there?” It wasn’t like his friend to randomly approach others he didn’t know. Especially not ones that radiates such scary energy.

“Yeah, it’s fine. I’ll see you guys later,” Jisung said before getting up and heading towards where Changbin sat.

  
  


**Felix**

@fabulix

Is he sick? Jisung is sick?

**Jeongin** @notyouroppa

Jisung is sick???

**Felix** @fabulix

@notyouroppa He just went over to the scary looking guy who kept staring at us

**Jeongin** @notyouroppa

To do what???

**Felix** @fabulix

@notyouroppa (ㆀ˘･з･˘) I don’t know

  
  


“Hey,” Jisung greeted with a small smile once he reached the table. “Can I sit?”

Changbin looked up from his notebook, turning the page to a blank one as he did so. “Sure,” he said in a small voice. Jisung couldn’t pinpoint if he were just tired or anxious. Perhaps it was both.

“So uh…” Jisung cleared his throat before continuing. “Why were you staring at us?” He was trying his best to not make it sound like he was angry at it, rather just curious.

“Oh… you saw that.” Changbin played with the ends of his sleeves, looking down as he did so.

“Well, I didn’t seem to notice but my friend did,” Jisung explained.

“Who?”

“Huh? Who? Felix?”

Changbin seemed to have said something under his breath but Jisung couldn’t hear what it was. He looked back up from the ends of his sleeves to meet Jisung’s eyes. His eyes were dark, that part was true, but Jisung failed to see where he looked scary when he was up this close to him. If anything, he was timid.

“Your songs,” Changbin suddenly said, catching Jisung off guard by the change in topic

“What?”

“Chan hyung forwarded what you sent him to me. They’re yours, right?”

Jisung blinked once then twice before he processed what he was saying. “Oh, yes. I made them all back in high school. Though, I know I’m probably still lacking since I’ve only ever taught myself…”

“I think they're good,” Changbin cut him off before he finished his thought. His voice grew in size ever so slightly as he continued. “I was actually surprised. Don’t take this the wrong way, but I wouldn’t have thought it was you who made them if the fact wasn’t already clear.”

To say that Jisung was surprised would be an understatement. For starters, he didn’t even know Chan would have forwarded his songs to Changbin. Why did he? From the sample he got to hear of Changbin’s work from yesterday, it seemed that their styles differed on more than one level. So for the older to say that he liked his work, he was thrilled to say the least.

“No offense taken,” Jisung shook his head. His eyes were gleaming now. “You actually liked my songs? You think they’re good?”

Changbin nodded slowly as if he was wondering which part of _I like your songs_ he didn’t make clear. “Honestly, I think we could use you. Chan hyung and I, I mean. We tend to collaborate on a lot of things. You know, mix our styles together to make something else.”

  
  


**Jisung**

@hansome

Dear God,

This is great.

Thank you.

  
  


“Me? Out of everyone else? Aren’t there a lot better and more talented producers at this school than me?”

Changbin only shrugged his shoulders. “You’ve probably already noticed, but I don’t really talk to a lot of people and Hyung’s opinion on these kinds of things have never been wrong before. We both think you’d fit well to us, especially after hearing what you have to offer.”

Jisung hummed quietly to himself in thought before musing, “you really don’t talk to hardly anyone, do you?”

“Is that all you got from this conversation?”

“N-no. It’s just that I kind of just realized that,” he explained. “I’m on the introverted side myself.”

Changbin sunk a little further into his seat, fiddling with the ends of his sleeves again. “I don’t mean to be. People just don’t usually like me…” He said, voice beginning to fade again.

“Well Felix did say that you were scaring him when you were looking over at us,” Jisung absentmindedly said without meaning for it to come out. Except the other already heard the words come from his mouth and now a look of hurt spread across his face. “B-but I don’t think you’re scary, hyung!” He mentally kicked himself for letting that information slip. Now he had managed to make his new friend upset. “In fact, I think you’re really cool. But maybe also a bit misunderstood.”

This was becoming really awkward and Jisung was looking for a way to get out of it. “Listen, if anything else, I’m your friend and I want to be there for you. And I’m glad that you gave me a chance,” he smiled softly. He was really trying his best to make him feel better but he wasn’t sure that he was being successful at it. “I’m going to head to where my class is now; or at least try to find it, but if you ever need anything just let me know. See you later,” Jisung said before standing up and disappearing through the double doors leading to the outside.

  
  


**Changbin**

@spearbin

):

**Chan** @cbang

???

**Changbin** @spearbin

@cbang leave your dorm room open

**Chan** @cbang

It stays open ❤︎

**Changbin** @spearbin

@cbang sounds dangerous, but I’ll be there anyways

  
  


**Lix**

( Hey, I just got out of class )

( What did you say to scary man? )

  
  


( He’s not scary ): )

( He’s just really shy )

  
  


**Lix**

( ??? )

( Do you know him? Why did he keep staring at us? It felt cold )

  
  


( He’s a 2nd year also in the producing pathway. What I heard of his work so far is really good. He said that him and Chan hyung could use me in future projects )

( As for the staring, I’m not sure about that. Maybe he wanted to join us? )

  
  


**Lix**

( Wait- )

( Is the Chan you’re talking about also Australian?)

  
  


(Eye- do you know him too?)

  
  


**Lix**

( DJFKDK- NO )

( That dancer guy from yesterday knows him and said he’d introduce us sometime )

( Everyone knows him except for me 😢 )

  
  


( He’s a really nice guy from what I can tell. He’s the one that gave me the cheesecake )

( I have to go for now, but maybe you’ll get to meet him soon? )

  
  


**Lix**

( 🥺 )

  
  


**Felix**

@fabulix

One day I’ll get to meet my brother

**Jeongin** @notyouroppa

You have a brother???

**Hyunjin** @hwangjin

Can I meet your brother too?

  
  


**Jeongin**

@notyouroppa

Jisung is sick and Felix has a brother? The way that university is affecting them and it’s only their second day

  
  


Jisung absentmindedly flicked his pencil back and forth between his fingers as he listened to the professor explain the plan for their writing class. It wasn’t necessarily a song writing class, but those sorts of formats were also accepted. It was definitely a class that was going to help him with his major, he just had to put the work in for it.

“The first project; which won’t be due until a little later on, is going to be something that expresses a sense of happiness,” the professor started to explain. “I’m telling you this today so you can go ahead and start thinking of ideas of what to write and how you want to do it. I leave the style up to you, but I want it to be something where I can tell you’ve channeled what makes you feel warm and good inside; or something that really inspires you.”

Already thoughts were going around Jisung’s mind, but none seemed to fit the description of the project. Sure, he was happy in life, but that sort of mood was foreign to him in writing. At least he had a couple of weeks to figure it out. Maybe his ball of sunshine of a friend would be able to help him out with this one. Even if Felix didn’t write things, his outlook on life could be beneficial to him. He has always had a way with seeing things in a bright light. And who knows, maybe he could crack this out quickly and not have to worry about anything for the remainder of time until the due date. The thought of that alone got his motivation going.

  
  


( Lix )

( What time does your next class end? )

  
  


**Lix**

( 12:45 )

( Why? )

  
  


( Perfect. )

( Let’s have lunch together then. I’ll come to you )

  
  


**Lix**

( Sure. Meet me near room XXX )

  
  


( See you then )


	5. Chapter 5

Felix’s class was in the performance building that was in the opposite corner of the one Jisung was currently in. It wouldn’t take him very long to make his way there so he should be able to get there by the time his friend got out of class. He got there just a few minutes after the class was scheduled to let out, but found that no one was in the room. Checking to make sure that it was the correct room number, he blinked in confusion.

“Felix?” He called while poking his head in, only failing to find the one he was looking for. “Where did he go?” He was just about to continue down the hallway when he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket.

  
  


**Lix**

( I meant to text you before! My class let out early today )

( I ran into the dance major hyung )

( But I’m just at the practice rooms, room XXX )

  
  


( I should have guessed from it being the first day of that class and all )

( I’m on my way )

  
  


The practice rooms weren’t but down the stairs so Jisung headed to the staircase and turned the first corner to where hopefully Felix would be waiting for him at. He passed a few rooms before he found his friend. He froze when his eyes landed on another familiar face in the same room.

  
  


**Jisung**

@hansome

Yo what the actual fuck

  
  


**Jisung**

@hansome

THAT’S the dance major friend?!

  
  


Jisung recognized the brown haired boy almost immediately. How could he not? He even had that same dumb hoodie on from before. He couldn’t believe this. Out of all places in the world, the boy from that day at laser tag just happened to be at the same school as him and also just so happened to be Felix’s new friend. What kind of reality show was this, he thought. With a swift motion, Jisung threw open the door of the practice room and stomped in.

“Felix! You didn’t tell me that the person you mentioned was this asshole.”

The two of them stood dumbfounded at the words coming out of the other’s mouth. Felix especially was in shock.

“W-what? You know him?”

Minho turned to see just who in the hell was calling him such things, but had a look of realization when he saw who it was. “That’s _hyung_ to you, I’m assuming,” he said with arms crossed in irritance.

“Ah, my bad, asshole _hyung,_ ” Jisung corrected himself with a touch of sarcasm in his voice. “Felix, he’s the one that ran into me and kissed me when we went to laser tag.”

“First of all,” Minho interrupted. “ _You_ ran into _me_ ,” he said while holding up one finger then changed it to two. “Second of all, I didn’t kiss you. You just smashed your face into mine like some barbarian.

Jisung’s jaw dropped at his audacity. “I was looking for Felix! I didn’t _smash my face_ into yours and I’m not a _barbarian_ either.”

Felix could only stand there and watch them bicker for a few moments before everything finished processing. He walked in between them, putting his hands out defensively to the both of them. “Hey, hey. Calm down. What happened was just an accident. Nobody meant to do anything that they did.”

“That little fucker had the cockiest look on his face before he ran off,” Jisung retorted.

“Little? I’m literally taller than you,” Minho scoffed. “And I only smirked like that because you were an easy point.”

“You know what, I’m not listening to you anymore,” Jisung said as he backtracked to the door in which he came. “I’m leaving.”

Felix sweat dropped as he looked from Jisung to Minho. “I’m sorry about him. He’s usually not like this, I swear. I’m going to go talk to him so I’ll see you later,” he apologized, bowing slightly before running after his friend.

  
  


**Minho**

@meowho

Hm…

**Chan** @cbang

Did you find what you were looking for?

**Minho** @meowho

@cbang oh, I remember what it was now

  
  


“Jisung!” Felix called from down the stairwell. Jisung had gone up taking the stairs two at a time, putting much distance between him and the practice room. Felix just couldn’t figure out what he was so angry for.

Jisung didn’t stop until he was outside of the building. He didn’t want his voice to carry and disturb the classes going on. With a huff, he turned around to face Felix when his name was called again.

“Jisung, I really hate to say it, but you’re in the wrong this time,” Felix began, trying to be careful with his words. It was always harder for him to express himself in Korean and sometimes things come out the wrong way.

“And he’s not?”

“He didn’t start anything. You’re the one that engaged.”

Jisung narrowed his eyes slightly at that. _He’s_ the one that engaged? Minho didn’t seem to have any issues with putting the same stuff down on the table to offer back.

Felix continued. “Look, he’s the best dancer in his year. If I want to get in the same ranking, he’s my ticket in. I don’t think he’s a bad guy, either.”

Jisung took a small step towards him. “You’re going to be one of the best by your own means. You don’t need some insolent prick to get there.”

Felix was happy to know that his friend thought highly of him like that, but that wasn’t the point right now. “You don’t need a parachute to jump out of a plane either, but it sure does help,” Felix retorted. A frown painted his confused face as he stared into the other. “Why are you being like this?” He breathed the question out simply.

It didn’t seem like Jisung had an answer for that. Or if he did, he didn’t make it known. “Just- never mind. Nothing.” He was turning away and distancing himself from him now. “I’m going. I’ve lost my appetite so don’t worry about eating with me.” And with that, he headed down the sidewalk, leaving Felix behind.

  
  


**Jisung**

@hansome

Damn it… this wasn’t what I needed to happen

**Chan** @cbang

You want to come over and talk?

**Jisung** @hansome

@cbang That would probably be best

  
  


With a heavy sigh, Felix sat down alone at a local chicken restaurant near the campus. It was a bummer for him that he didn’t have anyone to eat with. With Jisung mad, Jeongin not there, and no real friends yet, he only had the option of going by himself. Hopefully his hunger would distract him enough from that fact.

Just like from earlier, he felt a pair of eyes on him from somewhere but couldn’t pinpoint it before a waiter came over to him. Perhaps that had been who was looking at him since he didn’t feel it again after they took his order and left. He pulled out his phone and played around on it to kill time as he waited for his food to be brought out.

“H… excuse me,” a small voice came from the side of him that he didn’t see.

He glanced up and nearly jumped out of his skin when he saw it was the scary guy from before. Changbin stooped down to catch Felix’s phone before it was able to fall to the ground.

“Shit- I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to startle you,” Changbin apologized as he politely offered the phone back to him with both hands.

Felix slowly accepted his phone back while still eyeing him cautiously. “You’re that scary guy from before.” It slipped out before he could stop himself, instantly feeling bad when he noticed a hint of sadness in the other. “Oh, no I’m sorry. That was rude of me.”

Changbin subtly bit the corner of his lip, willing himself to shake it off and say what he intended to. “I’m really sorry about scaring you. I didn’t mean to. Can I sit? I promise I’ll leave shortly.”

“Uhm, sure? Go ahead,” Felix gestured a hand to the empty seat in front of him. This was a bit strange, he thought.

“I’m Changbin,” he said in a more or less timid voice. “I’m friends with Jisung and Chan; if you know him. But uh… I couldn’t help but notice you looked down.” This was good, he was doing good so far. His voice was kept steady despite his heart rate being frantic.

Damn, Felix thought. Literally the entire school seemed to be friends with Chan except for him. But that was beside the point at the moment. He was upset with Jisung, not with not being friends with Chan. “Yeah, you could say that…” He paused to think of what exactly to say. If Changbin was also friends with Jisung, he wouldn’t want to make him seem bad, even though that’s exactly what he already did with Minho. “I made a new friend. His name is Minho and he’s a dance major like me. He’s supposedly top of his class and I believe him from what I saw,” he began, pausing in between his next thought while subconsciously rubbing a thumb over his phone. “But, it just so happens that Jisung and him met briefly a few days ago, and now Jisung seems to hate him because of the incident. They had a bit of a quarrel earlier.”

Changbin blinked at the name, knowing exactly who he was talking about. Instead of interrupting him to say this, however, he continued to let Felix speak. It seemed like that’s what he needed at the time anyways.

“I tried to understand Jisung’s point of view, but I feel like he just unnecessarily escalated it more than it should have been. What happened was just a simple accident, after all. And I’m worried that it might strain my relationships with both of them. Of course, I don’t want that to happen so I’m hoping they’ll cool off after a little time.”

Changbin couldn’t help but to frown ever so slightly. He didn’t even know the boy sitting in front of him but he did know that it hurt to hear him be upset over such a thing. He opened his mouth to say something but was cut off when a waiter brought him his two bags of take-out. “Oh thank you,” he said to the waiter and slowly stood up. “Minho hyung can be a little bit of a character sometimes. But he’s not a hateful person, so I wouldn’t count on him to shun you after whatever Jisung said to him.”

Felix felt himself smiling just a tad. It felt good having been able to talk to someone even for as short of a time as they did. “Thanks, Changbin hyung. For listening to me. I needed it.”

Changbin gave him a nod and headed out with a sense of contentment. _Changbin hyung_. He hoped he would be able to get used to the sound of that coming from him.

A few minutes later passed and a waiter came out with the food that Felix had ordered. “Here you go. And don’t worry about the bill, someone already covered it for you.”

Felix blinked in confusion, wondering if he had some mistranslation going on. “I’m sorry?”

“The bill. It’s been taken care of,” the waiter repeated before walking back the same way that they came.

“Taken care of…?” Felix murmured to himself then turned his head to the door that Changbin had exited out of earlier. “Changbin hyung did?”

  
  


**Felix**

@fabulix

Just who is he?

  
  


Changbin walked into Chan’s dorm with the bags of take-out food in hand. “I’m back. Oh- Jisung is here,” he commented as he set the food on the table. “I just ran into your friend at the restaurant, actually.”

Jisung turned his head from where he sulked in a chair at the other end of the room. “Felix?”

“Yeah, he looked really upset so I went to talk to him for a minute,” he paused when he felt a knowing look from Chan. He cleared his throat before he continued. “He said he didn’t want his relationship with either you or Minho hyung to falter because of whatever disagreement you two had.”

Jisung sunk lower into the chair, his arms lazily draped over each arm rest. “Did he now…” He added in an even lower mumble, “everyone just happens to know Minho around here…”

“You kind of missed that entire conversation while you were gone,” Chan told Changbin as he came over to get some food. “But everything is going to get fixed, right, Jisung?”

The one mentioned sighed quietly, almost inaudible from where he sat in the room. “Yes… I’m not going to be able to get any work done with the current tension.”

“I know it’s going to be hard for you to do, but I also know you’ll be able to do it,” Chan said as he walked over and offered a plate out to him. “You can be upset all you want but you also have to eat. And since you didn’t eat with your friend, you’re going to eat this.”

Jisung glanced up at the plate and sat up straight to accept it. “Thanks, hyung. I appreciate it.”

  
  


Jisung stuck around for a few more hours until he knew that he couldn’t put it off any longer. He was going to have to go back at some point. After all, he had a class with Felix in the morning and he didn’t want it to be awkward in there. Especially with the way that he was also trying to be better friends with Seungmin and Hyunjin in there. Grabbing his bag, he got up and looked to Chan. “Could you come with me?”

“Sure, but why?”

“I just know Felix will be a lot happier that way.”

“Ohhhh. I gotcha. Let’s go,” Chan nodded in understanding and walked towards the door. “I’ll be right back, Changbin.”

The two of them walked down the hall together and towards Jisung’s dorm room. Jisung could feel his anxiety picking back up so he decided to try and distract himself from it. “Your dorm seems to be really clean for two people living there,” he spoke up suddenly.

“Huh? Oh, I dorm by myself. Changbin just likes to stay there sometimes. I dormed with someone until he graduated last semester,” Chan explained.

So Changbin really wasn’t his dorm mate then. “Does he just not like his roommate that much?”

“Changbin? He doesn’t have a dorm here. He has his own little penthouse but he’s just too lazy to make the trip back and forth from here to there so I let him stay in my dorm.”

Jisung choked on his own spit, not having expected that answer. “W-what? He has his own place?” He wondered just how well off he really was even though he showed no signs of it. And the fact that he had his own place and didn’t have to dorm here probably meant that he gets lonely often. Thoughts continued swirling his mind until he reached the door of his dorm. With a deep breath, he used his keys to unlock in and slowly creak the door open. “Felix…?”

Felix looked up from the small couch, pausing his game. He shot Chan a confused look, unaware of who he was. “Who’s that?”

Chan stepped into the room with a smile, closing the door behind him. “I’m Chan,” he greeted simply.

Dropping the controller, Felix ran over to the person he had been dying to meet ever since he heard about him. “Chan? The same one from Australia?” Stars started shining in his eyes with his excitement.

“The one and only,” Chan nodded. “It’s nice to meet you, Felix. But Jisung has something he needs to say to you.” He nudged Jisung, who had been looking at his feet. “Go on.”

Jisung’s mouth formed a tight line before it opened for him to speak. “I’m sorry, Felix. What I did was self centered of me. I didn’t mean to embarrass you in front of your friend and I definitely don’t want to screw up your chances of getting ahead in your major.”

“And?” Chan pressed for him to continue, leaving Jisung to sigh.

“Aaaand I promise I’ll personally apologize to Minho and I won’t say any more hurtful things to him.” He slowly looked up to Felix’s eyes, waiting for his response.

Felix threw his arms around him, embracing him in a soft hug. “I appreciate and accept your apology, Sungie.”

A small sigh of relief escaped Jisung’s lips as he pulled his arms up to hug his friend back. “I’m glad, because that took a lot of me for admitting I was wrong.”

“I’m glad this worked out,” Chan said then added, “I’m going to head back now so I don’t leave Changbin waiting for long.”

“Wait!” Felix called, reaching a hand out to stop Chan from leaving just yet. “Can you send my gratitude to Changbin hyung for me? I don’t have his number or anything but I still want to thank him for paying for what I ordered when he didn’t have to.”

Chan couldn’t help but chuckle. “Oh he did that? Sure I’ll tell him for you. I’ll see you guys later.” He waved and showed himself out of their dorm.

  
  


**Chan**

@cbang

Seo Changbin dark rapper, huh?

**Changbin** @spearb

I don’t like where I think this is heading so I’m going to go ahead and lock this door

**Chan** @cbang

@spearb eye- that’s my dorm-

**Minho** @meowho

@cbang don’t worry, I still have a spare if you need it 😇

**Chan** @cbang

@meowho 🥰

  
  


**Changbin**

@spearb

Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad to stay at my own place for once? 🤔

**Minho** @meowho

You forgot I have a spare for there too

  
  


**Chan**

@cbang

No one comes in clutch like Minho 😤

  
  
  
  
  



	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello~ I meant to post this a couple of days ago but revamped it after reading it through a few times. As always, please enjoy and feel free to leave your thoughts in the comments ❤︎

**Jisung**

@hansome

Morning? No it’s not. The next day never came

**Felix** @fabulix

You made a promise, remember. I’ll be sad if you break the promise 🥺 And your project won't get done 

  
  


Jisung stretched his arms out across the table to the point where he nearly knocked Hyunjin’s arm in the process. He pressed his face into his arms and groaned slightly. “Let’s just stay here all day so we don’t have to go to class and it doesn’t have to end.”

Hyunjin gave a questioning look to Felix. He wasn’t sure if this was Jisung’s usual behavior or not since he was still a bit unfamiliar with him. “What’s up with him?”

“He’s sulking about how he has to own up for his actions and apologize for being rude to Minho hyung,” Felix answered. Hyunjin though still didn’t seem to understand so Felix graced him with the story of what had happened starting with the event at laser tag to when Jisung finally met Minho and confronted him about said past event.

  
  


**Hyunjin**

@hwangjin

Seungmin’s missing out on all of the best stories this morning

**Seungmin** @songmin

That’s okay because I know you’ll be telling me about it later

**Hyunjin** @hwangjin

@songmin ...you’re not wrong

**Seungmin** @songmin

🤗

  
  


“Wait, wait, wait,” Hyunjin said, trying his best to stop laughing, though failed miserably at it. “So you’re telling me you got seriously upset at him because you two accidentally kissed each other somewhere?” He was highly amused at the thought the two of them randomly running into each other and kissing but even more so about that being a reason for Jisung’s irritance.

Jisung’s cheeks were red with embarrassment by this point. It only sounded dumber and dumber after each person reminded him of why he was upset. The volume of Hyunjin’s voice being loud enough to carry over to the next few tables in their radius also did not help save his pride. No, he was most certainly not feeling any better about any of this. “ _No_ , I was seriously upset because of his _response_ to it,” he corrected, albeit not very effectively with the way Hyunjin still held his grin in place. “The way he looked at me pissed me off.”

After calming his laughter down, Hyunjin leaned back in thought while humming quietly to himself. “You know… I think you’re just trying to make something else out of this,” he said, gaining the other’s full attention now. Jisung wasn’t at all sure by what he was trying to get at but he was curious enough to let him continue with his possible point. “I don’t know what, though. Maybe you’re scared?”

“Me? Scared? Of him?” Just the thought of being scared of Lee Minho made him laugh aloud. He didn’t have a clue as to what about the idiot would be found as scary or even a little intimidating. Maybe he just thought that since he was two years ahead of them, Jisung might feel that way.

“In a way…” Hyunjin mused. “Hear me out,” he said now sitting up straight and using his hands to aid him in a more or less efficient explanation. “You’re new here and I’m assuming you haven’t made much progress with getting to really know someone else besides Felix. And now Felix is becoming friends with someone besides you so you feel left alone.”

Jisung’s mouth closed softly at that. He had a decent enough point and it did make sense once he took the time to think it over. But was that really it? Did he snap in an overreacted way because he was afraid of being left alone? Because he was threatened by someone taking away the only real familiar body to him? Sure, he was making progress in getting closer with Changbin and Chan, but he couldn’t say they were at the same level in friendship that he was with Felix. He had known Felix for years and the two had little to no secrets left between them. The more he thought about it, the more it was all starting to make too much sense to him and that made him feel even worse inside. God this apology was going to eat him alive whenever he got around to it.

“Hey,” Hyunjin suddenly spoke up to regain Jisung’s focus on him. “Don’t worry about any of that, though. I really don’t peg Minho hyung as the type to steal friends from others. And besides, I’m your friend now as well as Seungmin too; even if he doesn’t care to be around others in the morning.”

Felix couldn’t help but to gush over his friend, embracing him in a warm hug. “Sungie, is that really why you were so mad? That’s cute. I’m not going to ditch you for anyone. Come on, let’s go to class together.”

Jisung got up, following the lead of the other two. Though he was walking between them, he couldn’t help but to have his mind wander and soon become oblivious to whatever they were saying. He needed to figure out his thoughts if he were going to properly apologize. After hearing Hyunjin’s stance on it, his previous plan had gone out of the window. He needed to do better.

Then again, he still didn’t even know when a good time to do it would be. That would be the first thing he would have to figure out so he could get his mind straight before then. Only way to know that would be to ask someone that knows. Luckily for him in this case, Minho seemed to be well known by someone he knew himself.

  
  


( Hyung. Can you help me out a bit? )

  
  


**Chan hyung**

( what’s up? )

  
  


( Do you happen to know when Minho hyung has a break in between his classes? )

( I didn’t think that far ahead )

  
  


**Chan hyung**

( He should have a good half hour break at least at 11:45 )

( Room XXX in building X )

  
  


( Thanks, hyung! I appreciate it )

  
  


**Chan hyung**

( no problem )

( Also try to not worry so much ☺️ )

( I can feel your anxiety from here )

  
  


( I’ll try my best 💀 )

  
  


“11:45, huh,” Jisung almost incoherently thought to himself; still too quiet for Felix or any of the other students in the class to catch that he said anything in the first place. After all, class was in session and he didn’t want to disrupt anyone. He had been scribbling Konglish down in his notebook, trying to still pay attention in class while also playing around with his thoughts. It was safe to say that his notes were not good study material. He would have to ask Felix for his later. Glancing over, he saw the elaborate notes Felix had neatly written down a page of his notebook. He moved his eyes upward to see his friend completely enthralled into the lecture, making Jisung wonder how he was such a good student. Maybe he was just excited for a time where he could hear someone else speaking English to him.

Jisung moved his attention back to his phone that was laying on his thigh beneath the table so it wouldn’t be so out in the open. He watched the time go by the minute, swearing that it was changing too quickly. It was still a few hours away that he would meet the other so that gave him some time to swallow his pride while it still lingered. Minho would be in the performance building which wasn’t too far of a walk from his own class that ended before noon. But of course it was going to be the performance building. From as far as he knew, Minho lived there 24/7.

  
  


**Jisung**

@hansome

This is driving me insane

  
  


**Jisung**

@hansome

It’s just an apology what do I have to even worry about?

**Jeongin** @notyouroppa

I’m not really sure what it’s for but maybe you’re worried about it not being accepted as one?

**Jisung** @hansome

@notyouroppa WAIT-

  
  


**Jisung**

@hansome

Wait he’s right though…

**Jeongin** @notyouroppa

No I’m not. I said nothing.

  
  


The first class of the day ended without him even realizing it. The next thing he knew was that he was walking down the hallway with Seungmin towards their next class. It was then that Seungmin pulled him back into the world of the conscious.

“You’ve had that look on your face since you first walked in.”

Jisung looked like his mind was far, far away from his physical body. He honestly probably didn’t even hear much of what Seungmin had been saying before and he felt bad for it. “Ah, sorry. I’m fine. I’ll be fine. Like Hyunjin said, I’m just making this out to be a bigger deal than it really is,” he sighed and shone a small smile to show that he really was fine. “I’m just a little anxious but I’ll be okay once I get it out. It’s just the anticipation getting to me.”

Seungmin watched him for a moment before slowly nodding his head. “That’s understandable,” he decided. “Outwardly admitting you’re wrong to somebody is a hard thing to do whether or not you have time to prepare yourself for it.” He stretched a hand out to rest it gently on Jisung’s shoulder in an encouraging manner. “I believe in you. Do what you have to do so that you can focus on your work quickly. I’ll see you around,” he waved before stepping into his next class.

  
  


**Jisung**

@hansome

That’s right, I’ll believe in myself too 😤 I have work I need to focus on

**Chan** @cbang

Changbin and I can help you on that project this weekend if you’re down

**Jisung** @hansome

@cbang I can use all of the help I can get

  
  


Time seemed to tick by faster and faster as Jisung sat watching the clock instead of the board in his present class. It wasn’t like there was much of anything interesting there in the first place nor anything he couldn’t just search for on the internet later if he ended up not understanding the content. It was only a basic history class, after all. He knew the basis of what was going on or what _went_ on, to be more accurate.

The hand of the clock eventually made its way to 11:15, signaling the class to be over just before the professor announced it themself. Jisung took his sweet time packing up all of his only one notebook and pen and sticking it carefully into his bag before standing up to leave with the rest of the class. _Half an hour to go_ , he thought. _That will be here in no time._ He counted the tiles he stepped on until he was out of the building then began with the number of squares of the sidewalk up until he found his way into the performing arts building once more. It was a fairly large building compared to some of the others, but he already had the basic layout of the place nearly down packed with the few times he’s already explored the place so it wasn’t that hard to find the room he was looking for on the ground floor.

The clock on his phone read 11:25. Another 20 minutes would pass until Minho’s class would let out. That was, if it let out on time. He stuck to the opposite side of the hallway that the class was on so he could peek over through the windows to see if class was still going. Just in case of anyone inside looking towards the outside, he stayed close to the side so he wouldn’t be an obvious observer and distract someone. It was just enough however to be able to see the brown haired boy inside from a distance.

The room was vast enough for everyone to move around freely without hitting their neighbor. The instructor was up front facing the wall of mirrors with the rest of the class in rows behind her. Minho was in the first row near the center, dancing in tune with the other students to some music that was just barely audible from behind the closed door. If Jisung hadn’t been paying attention, he would have been able to miss the sound of it. But he was paying attention at this point; very much so. In fact, his full attention had been channeled onto watching every suave move that the brown haired boy made with the music that played. He hadn’t meant to stare so intensely. He really didn’t even mean to watch at all. His sole purpose for even looking in the first place was to see if the class had let out early or not. But here he was now stuck in a trance.

Sure, there were others in there. There were a total of 15 students and one instructor, to be exact. Jisung knew, he counted them. To him though, only one was standing out. Minho seemed like he didn’t belong there. No ill intentions were behind that thought. He just seemed on a whole other level. It was as though he was the real instructor of the group. Felix wasn’t just casually praising his skill after all. This boy really seemed to have his body under his complete control and he knew exactly what he was doing. _Oh fuck, Felix could really benefit from learning from him._ He couldn’t let himself mess this up. This was Felix’s golden ticket in.

  
  


**Jisung**

@hansome

Okay, I’m not going to lie. That was actually really impressive

  
  


Jisung backed completely out of view of the window once he saw the class was ending and people beginning to exit. He acted like he was just casually waiting for something or someone while messing with his phone so no one would think he was a stalker. He glanced back at the room when a decent amount of bodies passed him and turned down the hall. There was only a handful of people left inside, Minho being one of them as he was talking to someone else. He must have felt Jisung’s presence with the way he paused and looked in his direction. The girl he was talking to also stopped and acknowledged the light haired boy that was loitering by the door. She turned back to Minho, who seemed to be saying something that Jisung was too far away to hear. She said something through a smile to the older boy before grabbing her bag and waving goodbye to him.

Jisung backed up to give her plenty of space to get out. Pausing just before him, she gave him a short, curious look before leaving the room. Jisung watched her go before he inhaled a sharp breath and made his way into the room. He stopped a couple of feet in front of Minho, who held an anticipating look on his face. It wasn’t one of hate or irritance, though, which surprisingly did not calm the building anxiety inside of Jisung’s chest. The brown haired boy continued his silence with his head cocked slightly to the side and arms lazily folded on top of one another. Jisung decided that he better go ahead and start speaking.

“Listen…” he said, but his voice was already failing him as soon as he started.

“I’m listening.”

The words came out calmly, but also with a hint of something else that Jisung just couldn’t put his finger on. Maybe he thought he was here for round two of insulting each other. Or that he didn’t like the fact that Felix was near him.

Looking to the floor, Jisung swallowed hard before he could try again. _Honestly. This really isn’t that hard. Just spit it out already, damn._ He looked back up at Minho, now noticing the slight sweat on his forehead. He probably didn’t want to be here right now. He probably wanted to go freshen up before his next class after all of that dancing he did. Jisung decided that he was going to try to make this fast.

“I’m really sorry… About everything. The way that I barged up into your and Felix’s conversation and started attacking you right off the bat was really low of me. I’m still not even really sure why I was so mad. But whatever it was, it was wrong of me and I apologize for that. I just really hope that it didn’t affect Felix’s chance of a friendship with you.” He was beginning to ramble, but the older showed no signs of stopping him quite yet. “He’s a really nice kid and he loves to dance, he’s super talented actually. And I think that it would be amazing if you could help him out a little bit too since you’re also really talented yourself.”

Minho blinked once. If he was surprised, he was able to keep a fairly straight face with it. “You were watching?”

“I-“ Jisung rubbed the back of his neck slightly. He hadn’t meant to let the information of him watching slip. “Yeah… actually I did catch a good bit of it. You were actually really easy to pick out because of how impressive you were. Sorry, I didn’t mean to sound like a creep.”

A slight chuckle came from Minho, startling Jisung in the process. Why was he laughing? Was he laughing at him? His apology? Did he not accept it?

“Aish…” Minho tilted his head down so he could reach the back of his hand to his forehead to wipe the sweat from it. “First you insult me then you come into my class after watching and say that I’m impressive?”

Jisung could feel his anxiety rushing back into his body at that. This didn’t sound like the reaction he was fishing for. He wasn’t quite sure what he meant by that question or what he was trying to get at, but he proceeded with caution. “It was really unlike me as well as rude for me to say those things to you. Especially when I didn’t even know you.” He was really trying his best to make things right. “You can be mad at me or resent me all you want, that’s fair. But please don’t hold anything against Felix. He didn’t do anything except try to shut me up. I should have listened to him.”

“You sure are something else, huh?” He picked his head back up to look back at him.

Jisung froze in his shoes. He silently studied Minho’s face for any sign of what he was feeling. It was something close to a serious expression mixed with some sort of smirk. He just couldn’t be sure as to what kind it was at this point. He wanted to think that he found this whole situation funny and was willing to drop the tension, but with the words coming out of his mouth, he couldn’t be too sure. He was scrambling to find the right words to say. “Does… does this mean you won’t let Felix be friends with you?” Jisung’s voice shrunk smaller by each word he spoke.

Minho shrugged his shoulders slightly. “I don’t see why I wouldn’t.”

Jisung visibly brightened back up with his response. “Wait, really?”

“Felix wasn’t the one that called me an asshole in the first place,” Minho pointed out but continued before he could be interrupted. “But if you’re asking for yourself, then I can find it in myself to forgive you since you seem genuine with your words. And if it makes you sleep better at night,” he sighed in the middle of his sentence “I’m sorry for my cockiness when I shot you. But in complete honesty, it was really amusing for me.”

Jisung became visibly relieved. It was only fair that he would completely drop all hard feelings against Minho since his apology was accepted and Felix would still be able to have a good teacher outside of his classes. “No hard feelings then?”

“We can start off with a clean slate,” Minho nodded. “I’m kind of shocked by how much you care about your friend to do this. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go change before my next class,” he said as he picked his bag off of the floor.

“Oh right. Of course. Go ahead,” he quickly hopped out of the way and motioned for him to be able to go. He rubbed his neck slowly as he spoke up again. “And uh, h-hyung.” Damn, he was already going to need some time to get used to that. “Thanks again for letting us come to this.”

Minho waved a hand dismissively as he headed out, seemingly no longer really interested in the conversation. “Yeah, whatever. It’s not a big deal or anything.”

“Right...” Jisung said to himself in a low voice. It wasn’t a big deal or anything. Not at all. There wasn’t anything to worry about anymore except for his upcoming project which he could finally focus on. Things were back to normal.

  
  


**Jisung**

@hansome

That… went a lot better than expected?

**Jeongin** @notyouroppa

Everything okay?

**Jisung** @hansome

@notyouroppa It’s all good here

**Felix** @fabulix

I’m proud of you :D

  
  


( Your friend is kind of interesting, isn’t he? )

  
  


**Hyung 😸**

( All of my friends are interesting )

( I think you might be the most interesting, though )

  
  


( I’m assuming you’re the one that told him about when I got out of class and where it was )

  
  


**Hyung 😸**

( Of course )

( How else am I supposed to mend friendships like the saint I am? )

  
  


( There was no friendship in the first place )

( We hadn’t even made ourselves acquainted )

  
  


**Hyung** 😸

( Anyways )

( So you accepted Jisung’s apology, right? )

  
  


( Yeah, I’m not heartless )

( Plus I would like to get to know him better )

  
  


**Hyung** 😸

( Because he’s interesting? )

  
  


( It’s always a good idea to know more people )

( I’m going to class )

  
  
  


Jisung walked through the dining area, finding two familiar faces fairly easily. He walked towards them with a pleased look on his face, sitting down in front of them. “Hey, hyungs.”

“You look like you’re in a good mood,” Changbin noted as he looked up from his laptop.

“I got everything fixed,” Jisung said as he rested his chin on his hand. “I thought he wasn’t going to accept my apology at first and got scared, but he was actually really cool with it.”

“I told you it wouldn’t be hard. He’s a fairly reasonable guy,” Chan said then went off topic to add, “but now that that’s off your chest, do you want to go out with us this weekend? You know, have a fun time and get some work done while we’re at it.”

“I’m down. Where are we going?”

“There’s this club that’s not too far away. Don’t worry, we’re not going to be doing anything crazy. It’s just something to loosen up with and get our creative process going.”

“You can even invite Felix if you want,” Changbin added as a side note. “That way he won’t feel left out or anything.” He was smiling a toothy grin, one that seemed like the reason he gave wasn’t the one he meant. Nonetheless Jisung didn’t think anything of it besides how nice that they were inviting Felix even though he wasn’t a part of their new production group.

Jisung sat to think about it. He hadn’t really ever gone out to any sort of club before. His main friends up until now were Jeongin and Felix so he never really experienced that kind of thing with them before. They were mainly into playing video games at a PC room. But a club? Would he even fit in well there? He wasn’t much of a people person, but then again he didn’t think Changbin was anything close to that, either. If _he_ could go to that sort of place, then he figured he could too. After all, they did say it wasn’t going to be anything wild.

“I’ll go. And I’ll ask Felix if he wants to come along too whenever I see him later today. When is it?”

“Friday work for you? Since there’s no classes that day and all,” Chan proposed. “Plus you don’t have to get up early the next day.”

Jisung nodded his head once in approval. “Works for me. By the way, hyung,” he said with his eyes now on Changbin. “Are you working on something new? Can I listen?”

“Oh, uh… actually, it’s something we wanted you to help us with. Or be a part of, rather.”

Eyes widening like a deer in headlights, Jisung jolted slightly in his seat. He hadn’t been expecting that kind of response. “Seriously?”

Changbin handed his headphones over, offering them out to him. “Here, tell us what you think.”

Jisung happily accepted the headphones and put them on. With a tap of the space bar, music started flooding through the headphones. There were no vocals, however, which made Jisung think that that’s what they wanted him to help with. Nonetheless, he was really into it. He tapped fingers against his thighs in rhythm to the beats. It was definitely something he could get behind working with.

The music ended after a couple of minutes, Jisung being left with nothing but amazement. He slowly removed the headphones from his ears and handed them back to Changbin. “You made that?”

“Chan hyung helped a lot.”

“So what do you think? Is it something you can see yourself helping out with?” Chan asked with a look of hopeful anticipation. “We tried to stay in tune to some of your work that you sent us.”

“That’s why it had a familiar sound to it…” Jisung mumbled in realization. “I’d be really honored if you let me be a part of that. Maybe even by doing it I’ll get ideas for what to write for my project.”

Honored? That couldn’t even describe his emotions. Chan and Changbin had taken the time to study what he had given them, and worked his own style into this piece. The additional fact that he was being asked to join them in making the vocals made him feel like he could pass out right there.

“Great! This is going to be fun, I promise,” Chan beamed in excitement. “I’m going to head to class now, but I’ll text you the details later on.” He gathered up his stuff before waving to the two of them. “Later.”

  
  


**Jisung**

@hansome

Today has been good to me


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, hello! Sorry for such a long wait! Things have been a little crazy around here, but I’ve always kept this AU in mind. I will try my best to update frequently. Thank you for supporting me ❤︎

Jisung sat on the floor, back propped up against the coffee table as his fingers played around with the controller in his hands. He had been concentrating intensely on the current level when all of the sudden a few thuds sounded against the bottom of the front door, making him drop the controller out of surprise. He groaned when the screen dimmed with the words “Game Over” written across it.

“I was so close…” He rubbed his face in distress. He had been working on that level for the past hour but he had not actually been close to finishing it as he had left himself to believe.

The knocking sound at the bottom of the door came again, this time with a familiar voice. “Sungie! Open the door!”

“Why is he knocking at the bottom of the door… He might put a hole in it at this rate,” Jisung wondered aloud as he set the controller down on the floor before getting up and opening the door.

Behind the door was Felix standing with bags of food in hand. He must have been kicking the door so he wouldn’t crush the food in hand from knocking with his hand.

“I couldn’t reach my keys and I didn’t think about that when I got all this,” he explained as he quickly moved past Jisung to set the bags down on the table. It was definitely a lot more than two people should be eating. Though Jisung was sure that they _could_ probably finish all of it, he wasn’t sure why there was so much.

Jisung slowly shut the door behind him and made his way over to examine all of the bags. “Not that I’m complaining or anything,” he started off. “But why is there so much?”

“Well,” Felix shone a bright smile to him. “We didn’t get to eat together the last time and I thought it would be nice to invite Seungmin and Hyunjin to eat with us since we haven’t really hung out officially yet. Also think of this as a way of me saying thanks for making things right with Minho hyung.”

_Oh that’s right. I kind of ditched him last time out of anger._ Jisung subconsciously rubbed the back of his head, still ashamed of himself for having done that. He threw his arm around the younger and pulled him in close. “You know I appreciate you, right?”

“Are you just saying that because I bought you food?”

Jisung feigned hurt with his mouth agape and a hand on his chest. “Food isn’t the only thing keeping this relationship intact. It definitely helps, but that’s not it,” he explained before he turned his head towards the door when he heard knocking. “Oh, is that our friends?” He asked before hastily moving away from Felix before he had a chance to say anything and opening the door for the two waiting behind it.

Seungmin and Hyunjin smiled with a bag hanging between them. “We took it upon ourselves to get drinks since Felix got the food,” Seungmin said as he held the bag up for Jisung to see. They stepped through the door and followed to where Felix was setting everything up on the table for them.

“Oh thanks, I appreciate that.” Gratefully, Felix accepted the bag and started unloading its contents around the food he had set up. It was a large spread that was enough for four people. There were main dishes of chicken and noodles with various side dishes. By the end of the night there would be a slim chance of any food left.

Jisung sat in front of the TV while the others got their food, digging around in a small tote for his extra controllers so all four of them could play video games.

“Honestly,” Hyunjin murmured through already shoving food in his mouth. “If we get to do this every time you have to apologize to someone, I think you should fight people more often.”

“I didn’t _fight_ ,” Jisung corrected, waving a controller in the air for emphasis. “I just had a little mishap.”

“Mishaps, fights, arguments,” Hyunjin listed with a shrug. “Whatever lets us have these hang outs.”

Jisung couldn’t help but to let out a puff of air through something like a grin. “You guys can hang out with us regardless of an occasion, you know? Oh,” He turned his head towards Felix. “That reminds me. I’m going out with the producer hyungs on Friday. Changbin hyung said I could invite you if you wanted to come with.”

“Changbin hyung did?”

Felix’s attention zoned out to no place in particular in front of him. He was sipping his drink, a faint smile on his lips behind his cup. He was so lost in his thoughts about the day prior that he forgot he was having a conversation until Jisung spoke up again.

“So is that a no or…” He asked with a slight look of confusion on his face.

“Hm?” Felix blinked and brought his cup down from his mouth, his smile having disappeared as quick as it came. “Oh, I’d love to, but I already agreed to meet Minho hyung. He asked for both me and Hyunjin’s help.”

_Minho hyung. Just what’s with him?_ Jisung shook his head to get rid of his thoughts. It was good that Felix was going to be with him. That was the whole purpose of him apologizing, right? So Felix could have a comfortable friendship with him and learn from him? Right. He let out a quiet noise similar to a grunt as he continued setting up a video game for four people to play.

“Come on and play, but I’ll warn you that you’ll probably lose,” Jisung said with confidence in his voice only to be brought down with Felix almost spitting his drink out in laughter.

“You might be the worst one here and I haven’t even seen these two play yet!”

Felix wasn’t necessarily lying, either. Although he was a great gamer himself, he really couldn’t give much credit to his friend. Jisung was usually declared the loser in most of their gaming tournaments. It just wasn’t really a skill of his to beat Felix. And after a few rounds of playing S.S.B, it didn’t seem like Jisung was going to get any upper hand with any of his friends.

  
  
  


**Jisung**

@hansome

This controller is broken.

**Felix** @fabulix

We literally switched controllers twice

  
  


**Jisung**

@hansome

This game is rigged

**Hyunjin** @hwangjin

We’ve played two different games

  
  


**Jisung**

@hansome

Okay, I’m just bad at games. I admit it. I, Han Jisung, am bad at games. Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk

  
  
  


Jisung laid his head back against Felix’s lap with a groan. He had given up with trying to get first place. Third; just before Seungmin, was good enough for him. At least he had managed to avoid last place for once.

Felix breathed out a small laugh as he pat his friend’s fluffy, light colored hair in an attempt to comfort him. He had to admit it, he thought it was a talent of Jisung’s to be able to lose so consistently as he did.

Jisung watched the corner of the room before he moved his eyes to Hyunjin, who sat off to the side of him. “By the way,” he started. “Just what are you guys doing with dancer hyung?” It had been on his mind for a while. He knew they had been doing something with him earlier but he couldn’t figure out just what it was since the semester had just started. Unless he already knew of a later project and was already starting on it like Jisung was doing himself with his writing project.

Hyunjin looked confused but only for a second before he knew who he was referring to. “Minho hyung?” He asked before he continued. “He has some routine to get down but it doesn’t work well for him when it’s by himself.”

“For class? He already has that stuff to do?”

Hyunjin shrugged. “He didn’t say what it was for. And since it’s helping us too, we didn’t really ask.”

Felix used his hand to bring back the hair from Jisung’s forehead to see him better. “Are you being paranoid about us hanging out with him?” It was asked in a teasing way.

“Pft. No. I just found it strange is all,” Jisung assured. “You meet this guy and right off the bat he has something he needs to do with you.”

“Don’t you have the same thing going on with those producer hyungs?” Seungmin pitched in.

He had a point for sure. He too had just met two people and is already doing projects with them. He couldn’t help but to feel like something was different in their situations, but whatever he thought to say only proved him to just seem to be jealous. He figured it was best to just forget about it.

* * *

He had managed to keep his mind off of it all. That was, until he was left to have to think about it again. Friday had come around and Jisung was able to sleep in without any disturbances since Felix left without waking him up beforehand. He kicked the blanket off of him as he stretched awake. Sunlight spilled from the edges of the curtains on the window. By the looks of it he guessed he had missed breakfast. Rubbing his eyes, he sat up in bed and picked up his phone. It was already after noon. He wondered if Felix was able to eat yet.

  
  


( Felix )

( Have you eaten yet? )

  
  


He was about to type something else out when he heard dinging from the other room. He got up and made his way out of the bedroom and into the sitting area where he found Felix’s phone sitting on the table.

“He must have been in a hurry. Or he was just being careless…” Jisung decided it might have been the latter. Nonetheless, he would deliver it to him once he ate. In the meantime he smiled to himself as he unlocked the phone and opened Felix’s social media. It was too easy when he knew Felix’s passcode.

  
  


**Felix**

@fabulix

Daily I love Han Jisung post. The smartest, most handsome and talented guy I know. Who is also NOT bad at video games

[ image attached ]

**Changbin** @spearb

Time to give that phone back

**Jeongin** @notyouroppa

@spearb I don’t know you, but I second that message

  
  


**Felix**

@fabulix

This is just tragic

  
  


“No one lets me have any fun anymore…” Jisung murmured to himself as he shoved the phone in his pocket after eating and headed out to search for his friend. His best bet was for the practice rooms. It had to be either there or Minho’s dorm if they weren’t all eating at the time. And since he didn’t know where either of the other two locations could be, he continued en route for the former. 

Since it was a Friday, not many people were about on the campus. Mostly they were outside of the campus grounds, only making it easier to find which practice room his friends were in. There were only two in use at the time. The first one had a small group of people sitting around, none of which were who he was looking for. The second one down the long hall had only three, all of which were the people that he knew.

He noticed Minho first. Though his back was to Jisung, he still recognized the familiar way of movement from only the first time he caught him dancing. Felix and Hyunjin were on each side of him, copying his lead nearly flawlessly. He stayed off to the side of the windows, wanting to watch some more. Without fully realizing it, he pulled out the phone from his pocket and started recording.

He liked dancing a lot. It wasn’t like he was a dancer or anything; even though he tried to learn some dances from Felix for kicks and giggles, but he liked the way people danced to different music. When he had made a piece for Felix, he wanted to see what movements his friend could match to it. He wanted to see how different it could be depending on the type of music that he made. Sure, a song can have one set choreography, but different people can always put different twists on the same music and that’s what he found to be so interesting about it.

Whatever song that had been playing ended after Jisung had stopped recording and replaced the device back in his pocket, saving himself the embarrassment of possibly being caught and having to explain himself. He treaded slowly to the door, trying his best to not completely interrupt their conversation.

Minho seemed to notice his precense once Jisung got to the door and began pulling it open. He cocked his head to the side and watched him come towards them with patience.

“Sungie?” Felix asked, making Minho glance at him sideways in response to that nickname.

“Uhm…” Jisung started, regaining Minho’s silent stare on him once more. “You left this back at the dorm,” he explained, offering Felix his phone. “I figured you might have wanted it but accidentally left it behind.”

Felix’s eyes grew slightly at the phone and gave his pockets a quick pat as if he would have another phone in one of them. “Oh my gosh! Thanks!” He beamed as he took it, looking up at Jisung with a smile. “I thought I had it with me this whole time, where was it?”

Jisung scratched the back of his head, suddenly nervous with the way all of them were watching him. He wasn’t sure why he was feeling like that. After all he had just hung out with Hyunjin not too long ago and he had known Felix. He kept his eyes away from Minho without even meaning to. For whatever reason he could only feel on edge in his line of sight. Maybe he was irritated for him barging in on them. If he was, he was doing a great job at keeping his anger about it to himself. “Oh it was just on the table. You probably set it down to get something and forgot.” 

Felix nodded, putting his phone down with his other stuff that was against the wall on the floor. “Thanks again for that. You’re leaving soon to go out, right? I’m not making you late, am I?”

Jisung shook his head quickly at the amount of worry Felix was showing. “No, no! Changbin hyung still hasn’t texted me yet saying that he’s ready so I still have some time. Don’t worry about it.”

It was cute to see Felix like that. Being so genuinely worried about making him late with meeting Changbin and Chan. Felix had a tendency to sweat the small things like that, but Jisung found that endearing about him. He thought it was a decent trait to have. And if he hadn’t spared a glance to Minho, he might have missed the somewhat soft look that he was giving to Felix in response. The sight of it made his heart stall.

“Well I better get going now,” he blurted our before anyone said another word. “I don’t want to interrupt your work any longer.” Jisung was already making his way back out of the door in which he came at this time. “Keep up the good work! You guys are doing great!” He cheered before closing the door again and running out of the hallway.

“He’s a bit strange this morning,” Hyunjin thought aloud before shrugging off the thought and going back to the prior discussion.

Once around the corner of the hallway, Jisung put a hand to his chest and let out an uneven sigh. His heart was thudding against his chest beneath his hand. “Shit… My heart is going crazy. The hell is wrong with me?” He pat his heart, attempting to coax it to calm down. “Maybe it’s just that I interrupted whatever they were doing. I do feel a bit bad for it, but Felix probably wouldn’t have wanted me to leave his phone there.” He shook his head and resumed walking only to stop short of the stairs in favor of standing in front of some sound booths he hadn’t paid attention to before.

They were small rooms each suited with a Mac and basic audio equipment. He must have missed this section of the floor during his wandering spree. Jisung decided he would have to come back here. It would be good for him to be able to work on new things without being much of a disturbance to Felix back at the dorm. The mental note of the mini studios was cut short by the vibration of his phone in his pocket.

  
  


**Changbin Hyung**

( Hey )

( You can come now if you want )

[ location attached ]

( Is Felix coming too? )

  
  


( I’ll be there soon! )

( Felix can’t come. He’s doing something with Minho hyung and Hyunjin )

  
  


**Changbin** **Hyung**

( let me know when you’re outside )

  
  
  


**Changbin**

@spearb

Lee Minho.

**Minho** @meowho

Seo Changbin?

**Changbin** @spearb

@meowho (¬_¬)

  
  


**Minho**

@meowho

What, is this dark rapper time again?

  
  


Jisung followed the directions of the address he was sent until he stopped in front of a small penthouse. He must have checked the address three good times before he allowed himself to even believe he was at the right place. Changbin lived here? He swiped through his phone and clicked on Changbin’s contact, dialing his number. It rang a few times before a low voice answered.

“Hello?”

“Ah, hyung. I think I’m here?”

There was a moment of silence before, “you think? Hang on.” Another beat of silence. “I see you, I’m unlocking the door.”

Jisung looked down at the handle when he heard a beep on the keypad. He tried the handle, finding it to be unlocked. The door silently opened as he stepped through and looked around. His jaw dropped at the sight of the small chandelier hanging in the entryway. The lavish interior of the house nearly caused him to trip over his own feet when he was taking off his shoes.

“Holy shit…” Jisung breathed out as he dared to take a few steps inside. To be honest, he was scared to even come in. Everything was so clean and expensive looking from the leather furniture to the giant flat screen plastered to the wall.

“Ah,” Changbin walked towards him with a bit of an embarrassed look on his face. His gaze was set on something off to the side as he put a hand to the back of his neck. “Don’t mind all of this.”

_Don’t mind all of this?_ Jisung, in short, was in complete awe at the place. He knew Chan had mentioned he lived alone, but he hadn’t even thought that _this_ was the kind of place he had. “Hyung, excuse me, but this place is fucking amazing. Like…” He continued to let his eyes wander around the entirety of what he could see from where he stood. “Shit, it’s impressive.”

Changbin only seemed to get more embarrassed at the compliments. “Thanks, I don’t really stay here that often, to be honest.”

“I’d love to stay here”

“You can,” Changbin answered, perhaps a little too fast. “I mean, after we go out and everything, it will be easier to stay here than try to go back to the dorms. I have rooms so you can sleep in one of the beds.”

Jisung didn’t seem like he needed any more convincing to stay the night. He was already very much on board and physically beaming with excitement.

  
  


**Jisung**

@hansome

Tonight’s going to be great. I can already feel it

  
  


In the time it took to give Jisung the full tour of the place, Chan had finally made it to them. “Oh nice, Jisung’s here already. You ready to get started?”

“What are we starting on?” Jisung asked as he followed the two to Changbin’s production room. It was most definitely bigger than the ones at the school. Not to mention it was fully loaded with high tech equipment. Needless to say, Jisung was drooling over all of it in envy.

“That track we showed you earlier, we have it all set for your parts,” Chan explained as he helped himself to one of the computers. He began typing away to find something in a specific folder.

Jisung blinked at the suddenness. They already had something for him to be a part of? He thought it was really quick of them but then again he had no complaints about it. “All we have to do is record the vocals?”

Changbin nodded once. “We only got a little bit of the beginning done just for you to have a bit of guidance with it.” He picked up a sheet of paper from the desk space and offered it out to him. “We have everything sectioned off for each of us,” he explained and looked towards Chan. “Go ahead and play it.”

Music began flowing at a comfortable volume through the surround sound speakers around the room. It started off as purely instrumental until eventually Chan’s voice came into play followed by a short clip of Changbin’s. Jisung liked the way the music flowed through him.

“You might be wondering why the intro vocals are missing,” Chan said before continuing with, “well that’s because we reserved that as one of your parts. What do you think?”

Jisung’s mouth hung open slightly by what he heard with the song in the works and Chan’s comment. To say he was shocked would be an understatement. He couldn’t express how he felt at the moment. “I really think this is going to be something great. I’m grateful that you guys are letting me do this with you.” He couldn’t help but to give them a small bow as a sign of his gratitude.

“Like we said,” Changbin spoke up with a toothy grin. “We’re in this for the long run and we fully believe that we can get somewhere together. Now let’s get to work so we can go out soon.”

  
  


**Jisung**

@hansome

J.One has been born

**Jeongin** @notyouroppa

What? Who was born?

**Jisung** @hansome

@notyouroppa You’ll see 😎

  
  


**Jeongin**

@notyouroppa

Jisung was pregnant? Who’s the father? Felix?

**Felix** @fabulix

Innie…

  
  


**Jeongin**

@notyouroppa

I’M the father?? I don’t remember any of this. I’m not ready for this kind of responsibility

  
  


**Jeongin**

@notyouroppa

You know what, I’ll be a great father to little J.One

  
  


**Felix**

@fabulix

…

  
  
  


“Ah seriously,” Changbin rolled back in his chair, clapping. “This is killer! Jisung-ah, you did really amazing opening this song up.”

Jisung couldn’t help but to smile at his feet. He hadn’t imagined this sort of outcome. It took him a little bit of time to really get the essence of his parts, but in the end he pushed through flawlessly. He felt cool and he was starting to believe more in himself. After hearing Changbin do his parts, he became motivated. Changbin, the one who, on the surface, was dark and intimidating but timid in actuality. His rapping was powerful and it stunned Jisung to all ends when he heard it live.

And Chan? Jisung envied how confident he was with every take he took. He wondered if it could rub off on him so he too could feel that way about his voice. Jisung picked his head back up to look at the two of them. “I have to thank both of you for this. I know this is only the first out of many, but I feel like I’m already learning how to better myself in many areas. Changbin hyung is really cool. You’re really good at this and it’s like you’re a whole different person when you rap. And Chan hyung, you’re so smooth. It’s like you know exactly how everything you say should sound before you even speak it.”

“But you too,” Chan praised. “You have a different essence in you when you’re rapping. I like it a lot. I hope we can boost your confidence so that you can grow as far as you’re able to.” He got up from where he was sitting to put a hand on Jisung and Changbin’s shoulders. “But enough about all of that. Let’s go have a good time,” he said through a bright smile.

  
  
  


**Chan**

@cbang

3RACHA is going ✈︎out

[ image attached ]

**Minho** @meowho

Who?

**Changbin** @spearb

@meowho We’re hot just like the sauce

**Felix** @fabulix

Ah, hyungs. I’m so jealous

  
  


**Changbin**

@spearb

(*´∇｀*)

  
  


**Minho**

@meowho

What the hell is going on with Changbin today

**Changbin** @spearb

Lee Minho.

**Minho** @meowho

??? Why are you being so bipolar on the timeline

  
  


**Changbin**

@spearb

Anyways.

  
  


3RACHA; as they decided to call themselves, stepped through the doors of a club that was nearby Changbin’s place. It was a bit on the average side of sizes but that didn’t stop it from bustling with people. It had a full bar and an open dance floor with music supplied by a live DJ. Neon lights of various colors swept over the entirety of the building while people danced under them. If it hadn’t been for being with Chan and Changbin, Jisung probably would not have found himself being here on his own. He wasn’t a fan of crowds, but his previous confidence boost still lingered in him.

Chan took the lead in getting them a table off to the side of everything. It was a good position to be out of the way but also be able to see everything going on in the building. To say the least, Jisung highly approved of this.

Changbin passed the two of them a drink menu. “Get whatever you want. It’s on me tonight.”

Jisung’s eyes lit up wide in shock. “What? Really?” He asked to which the older nodded his head. “Hyung, you’re so generous tonight. Did you perhaps already start drinking without us knowing?”

Changbin couldn’t help but to let out a breath of laughter at that. “No, no. I’m just in a good mood tonight since we did such an amazing job with our first project.”

Jisung smiled to himself. He found it strange how completely different Changbin seemed to be now versus than when he first met him. He had been so quiet and isolated in his big, black hoodie but now he was relaxed and dressed in clothes that called upon others’ attention. It was amazing what just a few days could do.

The trio decided on ordering a few bottles for their table to start with. Only it was after the third one that Jisung found that they may or may not have been a bit of lightweight drinkers. However they seemed to still be very sure of themselves, it was still clear that their confidence and socializing standpoints were starting to grow.

“Oh I love this song!” Jisung suddenly announced, perhaps a little louder than he probably should have for the two sitting beside him. His hands shot out to grab Changbin’s. “Hyung! Do you know how to dance?”

“Dance? No I don’t think so-“

“That’s okay!” Jisung was already scooting out of the booth and dragging the other along with him to the dance floor, leaving a laughing Chan behind to guard their table. “Felix has been showing me moves. I can show you too. It’s really fun!”

Changbin didn’t seem to be putting up much of a fight if any to Jisung’s advances in dragging him to dance. “Felix has? You should have made him come so he could show us how it’s done.”

“Maybe he can come next time if he’s not busy,” Jisung shrugged before stancing himself in front of Changbin. “Now just copy me, I know this part,” he grinned and proceeded to move his body in tune with the music playing as Changbin tried hard to follow along.

  
  


**Chan**

@cbang

Ohh… Give him a few drinks and he can dance too

[ video attached ]

**Felix** @fabulix

!!! Han Jisung

**Felix** @fabulix

WAIT I TAUGHT HIM THAT I'M SO PROUD

**Minho** @meowho

What is Changbin doing in the background

**Chan** @cbang

His best

  
  


**Minho**

@meowho

This should be good


	8. Chapter 8

The night passed and morning came with darkness still invading the room from the blackout curtains draped over the large window of Changbin’s bedroom. The dark haired boy slowly stirred awake, arms gently hugging his Munchlax plushie closer into him. His eyes fluttered sleepily, but shot wide open when he noticed the silhouette of someone laying beside him. In the process of yelling in surprise, Changbin sent his foot roughly into the person’s lower back, throwing them straight off of the bed and onto the hard floor with a thud.

  
  


**Changbin**

@spearb

What the fuck??

  
  


“ _Agh! Damn that hurt. Oh my head…”_

  
  


The sudden sound of English caused Changbin to freeze. He was now sitting on his knees hunched over with his Munchlax in front of him for whatever type of protection the Pokémon could provide for him. His brain was a mess from how much he had drunk last night and couldn’t put a face to the voice he had heard. Who spoke English? Chan? Felix?? The latter possibility caused his heart rate to quicken. Warily, he crawled to the other side of the bed to see just who it was that he had kicked.

  
  


**Changbin**

@spearb

Oh thank god.

  
  


He was just able to make out Jisung’s familiar face as he was laid on his back, holding his throbbing head. If he wasn’t fully awake before, he definitely was now. Changbin carelessly threw his poor plushie to the side and frantically moved to crouch beside his friend on the floor.

“Jisung-ah! I’m so sorry! Are you okay? You scared the shit out of me!” He was talking almost as fast as he usually rapped as he tried to see Jisung’s condition in the dark space. “What’s with the sudden English?”

“ _You?_ You scared the shit out of _me_!” Jisung fired back, now working his way up into a sitting position. His hand moved from his head to his lower back. “God damn, I think you kick as hard as Felix does… I might have your footprint as a permanent mark on my back now.”

“H-hang on for a second,” Changbin stuttered as he got up and maneuvered around the bed to turn his side lamp on. With a click, a comfortable light dispersed about the room, letting the two be able to see much more clearly than before. Changbin resettled himself back down beside Jisung, gently placing a hand on the younger’s head to look for injuries. “Fuck, Jisung. I’m really sorry I kicked you onto the floor. I wasn’t expecting anyone to be there,” he explained with a genuine frown and look of regret on his face.

Jisung didn’t look too bad on the outside apart from a small red spot on his forehead. He must have hit it on the side of the bed on his way down. But Changbin figured most of the pain was something he couldn’t see on the surface.

Jisung groaned quietly as he held his head once more. “It’s alright, hyung,” he sighed. It wasn’t like he could hold this against him. Changbin hadn’t meant to do that and he knew it. He just wished his killer headache and now aching in his back would go away. But before that, he was confused. “By the way… I don’t remember coming in here last night,” he admitted.

Changbin blinked. He didn’t remember? He was unsure of how they ended up there himself. As far as he could remember was sometime around when he got pulled onto stage by Jisung. The rest of the night was complete darkness. _Wait._ “Where’s Chan hyung?” How could he have forgotten the third person of their group?

“Chan hyung,” Jisung repeated with confusion in his voice. It had only been the two of them in the room. Their hyung must have slept elsewhere.

Changbin stood up, bringing the other up with him by his hands. “Come on.”

The two of them walked out of the room and into the main section of the house where they found their missing friend sitting on the couch with his laptop. He had a sort of shocked expression resting on his face that made the two approach with caution.

“Uhh… Chan hyung?” Changbin shuffled over to stand beside him. “What uh… what happened last night?”

Jisung silently tapped Changbin’s shoulder and pointed over to the kitchen where his gaze had been stuck on. Changbin jumped slightly in surprise when he saw the collection of empty soju bottles sitting neatly on the kitchen island. At least they had been clean and organized about drinking, but this was still a lot.

“So the good news is,” Chan started, an uneasy smile painted on his face. “We somehow managed to make two whole songs at some point in this whole ordeal.”

“Oh wow…” Jisung gushed. Two songs? While drunk? And he doesn’t remember any of this? _What the hell happened?_

“ _Wow is right._ That’s what one of them is called,” Chan said and slowly turned his laptop screen so they could see the SoundCloud account that they had put up last night. It was under the name 3RACHA with three songs uploaded. He flicked the cursor over top of the play button. Both Changbin and Jisung stood frozen at the sound of the first verse.

_Excuse me Miss, but do you have a boyfriend?_

Chan reached over to gently close both of the younger’s mouths after the song had finished playing. “You’ll get cramps in your jaws if you stay like that.”

“Huh…” Jisung crossed his arms in thought. “I don’t know about you guys, but I think that song kind of slaps.”

Out of nowhere, Changbin grabbed a hold of Jisung’s arms. “Who was that song about? What did we do?”

“Well… it was you that wrote it, Changbin,” Chan offered softly.

Changbin snapped his head back at that in surprise. If he had been expecting anything, it wasn’t that. Not a chance. “Me?”

“You signed your name to it,” Chan pointed out as he tried to show him the screen but Changbin had already beaten him to it.

“Wait, what’s Hoodie Season? And we uploaded Matryoshka too?”

“That is something else we somehow put together. I’m actually really impressed.” Chan paused before he added, “also… we’ve already gotten a decent amount of attention over this. We may or may not have all posted about it,” he started as he switched tabs and scrolled through his timeline.

  
  


**Jisung**

@hansome

3RACHA in the building ☄️

[ https://soundcloud.com/3racha ](https://soundcloud.com/3racha)

  
  


**Changbin**

@spearb

💀

https://soundcloud.com/3racha

  
  


**Chan**

@cbang

CB97, SpearB, and J.One are here 🤟

[ https://soundcloud.com/3racha ](https://soundcloud.com/3racha)

  
  


**Jeongin**

@notyouroppa

Oh... is that what he meant

  
  


**Minho**

@meowho

Oh Seo Changbin??

  
  


**Felix**

@fabulix

I let my best friend leave my side for ONE (1) night and he goes off to party and get his name out there like the talented person he is. Wow, I love him 😸💕

**Changbin** @spearb

Jisung… you really need to stop going into Felix’s account

**Felix** @fabulix

@spearb He what-

  
  


**Felix**

@fabulix

Han Jisung thinks he can just go into my account and make me post how much I love him. Little does he know he doesn’t have to get into my account to hear that 🥺

  
  


**Changbin**

@spearb

This is tragic…

  
  


**Changbin**

@spearb

Han Jisung.

**Minho** @meowho

Honestly…

  
  


“Lee Minho…” Changbin murmured under his breath, not necessarily meaning to be heard by anyone.

“What?” Jisung questioned, though Changbin gave no explanation. He shrugged before leaning against the arm of the couch and looking to Chan. “So do you remember everything? Or anything?”

“I remember a lot of it.” Chan nodded slowly before adding, “but not all of it. The two of you got lost pretty quick in the game. I couldn’t find the two of you in the crowd after a while. But eventually I convinced you two to come back here with me and we continued here. But honestly I think all of this was beneficial considering what we made. Oh yeah and it was I who put you guys to bed. You looked tuckered out.”

“You should have told us that,” Changbin sighed loudly. “I nearly had a heart attack this morning.”

“A heart attack and a broken spinal cord,” Jisung added for his own sake. “Huh, what’s this?”

Chan was holding up his phone to them, showing him a video of last night when he was trying to get them to bed.

_Jisung was already curled up on the floor, not at all seeming bothered by the hardness of it. The camera moved closer to him as Chan tried to scoop him up in his arms._

_“Alright, let's get you to bed now,” Chan’s voice sounded from behind the camera. The view rotated and showed the phone falling from his hand. “Let’s try that again- okay. There we go.”_

_The video bounced softly as Chan maneuvered to Changbin’s room, careful to not shake his drunk friend too much. “Changbinnie, no don’t sleep on your face. Hang on, let me put Jisung here,” he said as he walked to the empty side of the bed and laid Jisung down under the covers._

_“My tummy hurts…” Changbin’s whine was muffled from his face in the pillow but Chan still understood._

_“You have to roll over,” Chan instructed, pulling him over until he was on his side. “Here, here-“ He picked up the munchlax plushie that was already resting on the bed and placed it down In his arms. “He’ll make you feel better. Just hug him, okay?”_

_Changbin buried his face in the soft fur of his plushie and said something that the phone didn’t quite pick up. Chan took a step back from the bed and turned the phone around so that the shot showed him along with the two in the bed._

_“This was a fun night you guys. Don’t feel too bad in the morning. I probably won’t remember this either. Goodnight~”_

_The video ended with a shot of Chan grinning and holding up a peace sign at his face._

  
  


Jisung stared at the still screen for a moment, trying his best to remember that moment but failed. Above being shocked about everything happening and forgetting it, he was really touched by how caring Chan had been. Out of the three of them, he had been the most responsible and made sure they were safe and comfortable sleeping. He was probably even the one that ushered them home safely. He hadn’t even known him for all but, what, a week?

“I really appreciate you having done that, thank you,” Jisung smiled at Chan and looked back behind him to where Changbin sat at the counter with his face in his arms. “Hyung- are you okay?”

“I’m an embarrassment…”

Jisung couldn’t help but to disagree. Sure, it did hurt a good bit when he got kicked off of the bed this morning, but he found Changbin to be really adorable right now. In a way, it reminded him of Felix’s innocence. They were both cute when it came to these sorts of things. “I still think that you’re really cool,” he encouraged with a warm smile. “Here, let’s clean up all of the evidence so you can forget about your mishaps,” he offered as he started clearing away the small collection they made from last night.

  
  


**Lix**

( Sungie~ )

( When are you coming back? )

  
  


( I’ll be there in about an hour )

( I’m going to need one of your magical massages )

( My lower back is broken )

  
  


**Lix**

( ????!!!?! )

( HAN JISUNG )

  
  
  


**Felix**

@fabulix

HAN JISUNG YOU WILD ANIMAL

  
  


**Felix**

@fabulix

NOT IN THIS CATHOLIC HOUSEHOLD

  
  


**Jisung**

@hansome

I can assure you that I am a pure child of God 😇😭

  
  
  


( NO WAIT )

( Changbin k )

( Damn it I didn’t mean to send that yet )

  
  


**Felix**

@fabulix

Seo Changbin.

  
  


**Changbin**

@spearb

😶

  
  


( HANG ON I WASNT DONE THPING )

  
  


**Lix**

( go on )

( sinner )

  
  


( 😭 )

( Lixie )

( Changbin kicked me out of bed )

( Literally speaking )

  
  


**Felix**

@fabulix

Han Jisung? No, sorry, God. Don’t know of such sinner

  
  


**Aussie Hyung**

( [ video attached ] )

( I have been told to send this )

( 👍 )

  
  


( oh… )

  
  


**Felix**

@fabulix

My bad 😓

  
  


**Lix**

( oops 😇 sorry )

( Come on Sungie! )

( I’ll make sure to give you an extra good massage )

( And I’ll make you food! )

  
  


( Please don’t, we both know you can’t cook )

  
  


**Lix**

( I’ll get some nice takeout instead 😸 )

( See you soon )

  
  
  


Jisung slowly treaded back to his dorm room that he shared with Felix. He brought his hand up to his head, combing his fingers through his hair with a small groan. Though it wasn’t as bad as before, his head was still throbbing. Carefully he unlocked the door and pushed through until he saw Felix patiently waiting at the table for him.

At the sound of the door opening, Felix looked up from his folded hands that were propping his head up and gave his friend a smile. “Jisungie!” He was sure to keep his voice down enough so that it wouldn’t cause a bigger headache for him. He stood up so that he could usher Jisung to the seat he had for him at the table where a hot bowl of haejangguk awaited him. “I figured your head must really be hurting after last night so I thought that this was a good idea.”

Jisung’s eyes widened at the sight of the choice in food. It looked like he wanted to cry at the thoughtfulness of his friend. Instead, he settled for embracing Felix in a tight hug. “Oh I love you, Lix! Thank you, really.”

“It’s no problem,” Felix assured before he reclaimed his seat in front of him. He was happy to be of help to him. Being helpful was just in his nature.

“Oh wow,” Jisung cooed as he tasted the soup. “This one is really good.”

“Is it? That’s good,” Felix nodded and watched him eat for a while before he let himself begin talking. He wanted Jisung to be able to feel a little bit better before anything else.

Jisung completely finished the contents of the bowl in record time. Leaning back in the chair he let out a satisfied sigh. “That hit the spot. Thanks, Lix. I’ll clean this up,” he offered only for Felix to beat him to it.

“No, I got it. Just go lay on the couch. Your back still hurts, right?”

Jisung subconsciously pulled a hand back to gently touch the sore spot. “That’s a yes,” he winced quietly. He moved over to the couch before slowly sliding onto it and rested his head on his folded arms as he waited for the other.

After cleaning up the table, Felix joined Jisung on the couch, gently sitting himself on top of the older’s legs. His hands gently pressed against the bottom of Jisung’s spine and gradually worked their way up until he reached the base of Jisung’s neck, beginning to soothe the achiness. Jisung let his eyes fall closed as he let Felix work his magic.

Felix was impressive when it came to giving massages. He had come to find out that fact years ago when Felix first offered to give him a massage in exchange for helping him with a dance routine. And not having been very used to dancing in such a way, Jisung needed it afterwards. Ever since then, Felix was always the first choice when he had sore muscles.

“Sleeping on the floor for even that little amount of time that you did made your muscles tense,” Felix pointed out as he worked to relax each muscle. “And I don’t think that you slept properly even in the bed.”

Jisung could only make a small noise of acknowledgement. It had only been a few minutes but already he felt so much better. At this point it was hard to try and stay awake.

“But I’m really impressed. Though you were just a part of it, those songs you guys posted were incredible. It’s nothing like I’ve ever heard you do.”

Jisung couldn’t help but to smile at the praise. “It’s all thanks to the hyungs, honestly. I just watched them. But maybe also being drunk and highly confident because of it helped out,” he laughed.

“Oh yeah, who was that girl that you guys were referring to?”

Jisung felt a slight difference in pressure of Felix’s hands as he asked the question. “Girl?” Immediately he knew what he meant. “Oh, I don’t know. I don’t even think there really was one. I think hyung was just writing things.”

“Hmm…” Felix hummed as he looked into the distance. His pressure went back to normal as he worked on Jisung’s upper back muscles.

“What about you, Felix?” Jisung asked, glancing back at him. “How was yesterday for you after I left? Did you get a lot accomplished?”

A smile appeared on Felix’s face at the question. “I think so. We spent a lot longer in the practice room than we thought, but hyung bought us food for helping him for so long.”

“Did he now?” Jisung murmured.

“I’m really grateful, you know,” Felix started. “I know that I don’t have to learn his routine for class or a grade or anything, but I still tried really hard with it. I know it’s important to him so I was really trying my best. Hyunjin is too.” His pressure changed once more with a soft smile spreading on his face. “I think he’s really cool. He dances really well and his teaching is effective. I feel like I’ve already improved just by following his lead. He’s really nice.”

Silently Jisung stared at him, studying him. He had expected a monologue, but perhaps not with that subject matter. There was something different in the way he spoke, he just couldn’t put his finger on it. He closed his eyes in thought, nuzzling his head comfortably back into his arms. “Sounds like you had a good time while I was gone,” he decided after a moment.

“I wish I could have joined you. At least with clubbing. It looked like a lot of fun. Though I think I might have passed on the heavy drinking part,” Felix chuckled, remembering the video Chan had sent him earlier.

“There’s always a next time,” Jisung yawned, unable to suppress it. Even though he hadn’t been awake that long, he was ready for a nap. He still felt like he needed to sleep more to completely get rid of his hangover. “Between being full and you working wonders on my back, I could fall asleep right here and now.”

“Feel free to. I can do this for a while longer until you do.”

Jisung gave him a small nod. “I’ll take you up on that offer.” Another small yawn escaped him.

Felix softened his pressure gradually as he felt Jisung’s breathing slow underneath his touch. When he was sure that he was asleep, he carefully slid off of his legs and stood up. The room darkened slightly as he twisted the blinds closed. He left the curtain open so there would still be some light for Jisung to see when he woke up. In the meantime he would let his friend sleep. He knew that after the night he had, he should be resting and recovering from his hangover. Silently he pulled his shoes on and headed out of the dorm room to leave Jisung with peace and quiet. He pulled the door closed with a hand on the door and frame to cushion it from making too much noise.

  
  
  


* * *

Many hours later had passed before Jisung twitched awake. A dream of the events from last night caused him to end his slumber. His eyes flew open as he sat up with a sharp breath. A hand found its way to his heart, feeling the erratic thudding in his chest. As he looked around the room he found it to be dark and that the bedroom door was shut. The clock on his phone read to be 10:47pm. He had been sleeping for more than 7 hours. Having said that, he wasn’t going to be able to go back to sleep. Especially not with new writing ideas floating around inside his head.

Swinging his feet off of the couch, he carefully stood up and tiptoed to the bedroom door. It silently opened just enough to where Jisung could see inside. Felix was laying on his back, eyes closed and phone screen down on his chest. He figured he must have fallen asleep while watching videos. Quietly he approached the sleeping boy, being extra careful not to wake him up. Wanting to return the favor of Felix taking care of him, Jisung gently picked up the phone from Felix’s chest. It was only that he wanted to make sure that it was on sleep mode before he charged it for him. Eavesdropping on his texts that the screen was left on hadn’t been his intention.

  
  


**Minho Hyung 😽**

( Thanks again for today )

( I hope that your reward was satisfactory )

  
  


Jisung dropped the phone, only barely being able to cushion the fall with his foot before it hit the floor so it wouldn’t make much of a noise. _Damn his phone is hard as fuck-_ Wincing as quiet as possible, he stooped down to rub the top of his foot. Sustaining injuries was just going to be his thing today, he thought. He glanced back up at Felix, hoping he hadn’t woke him. To his luck, the Aussie was still passed out. A sigh of relief passed through his lips at the sight. He stood back up and shut the phone off without looking at anything else and stuck it on the charger.

He tugged at the top of Felix’s blanket until it was snug at the boy’s shoulders. Jisung allowed himself a moment or two to study him. The expression on Felix’s face was peaceful but still managed to radiate a happy energy. Of course.

_I guess you had fun even tonight without me. You really seem to be clicking with hyung. You’ve adjusted quickly to university life._

There wasn’t going to be a way that Jisung could work in the dorm. He took up his book in which he used to write down lyrics and other thoughts and headed out towards the studio rooms.

  
  


**Jisung**

@hansome

This is going to be a long night

**Jisung**

@hansome

Here’s to good writing and production

  
  


With it being so late at night, it was a given that the performance building was so empty. Everyone in their right mind would be asleep right now. But Jisung wasn’t necessarily in his right mind. He just had a 7-hour plus power nap and a recollection of the prior night that got his creative process flowing. He needed to do something with it. Write about it. Make music about it. Something to get it into a physical form so that he could exhaust himself once more.

His footsteps echoed down the staircase with each step he took down into the lower level of the performance building. The isolated feeling calmed his nerves. Being an introverted soul, he liked how desolate the place was. It was only when he saw light on in one of the dance practice rooms that the feeling started to fade. Hell, it might as well as have completely vanished when he saw who occupied it.

  
  


**Jisung**

@hansome

Of course.

  
  


Lee Minho, the person who he swore never left this building. If he didn’t know any better, he might have let himself think that the older boy was merely a spirit bound to this place and could never escape. But he knew that spirits didn’t have physical bodies and, last time he checked, Minho had a very sturdy body. He knew. He was the one that accidentally ran into the bastard back at laser tag.

He spared him a few moments of his time watching him. The way that he controlled his movements was a bit hypnotic in Jisung’s mind. Unable to figure it out, he shook his thoughts away and continued walking towards an empty production room, completely unnoticed by the dancer.

With a flick of a switch, Jisung turned one of the lights on in an unlocked studio. It wasn’t very much light, but it was more than enough for him to see his writing in his notebook and the letters on the keyboard.

Most of the writing was done mindlessly. He tended to disconnect completely while allowing his hand to automatically write down words and verses of all sorts. His way of composing things usually began without much thought like this. Once a basis of what he was thinking was down, he could clean it up later. He stayed that way until the page was filled up completely. Putting his pen down gently on the counter, he picked up his book and read over his words a few times. 

His head nodded slowly, as if to a beat of some sorts. The notebook was practically thrown down before his hands shot to the mouse and keyboard. He quickly worked on pulling up a music program, not wanting to lose what he was hearing in his mind. Thankfully he didn’t have to worry about anyone being disturbed by his production process so that he could work diligently.

After about an hour had passed before Jisung leaned back into his seat and listened to the entirety of his musical piece. To say the least, he was pleased. Though it would need more work before he could call it complete. It was more on the contemporary side of the spectrum. Something he could see someone dancing to more so than singing or rapping to. Nonetheless he would come back to it later so he was sure to save it in a spot that he could get back to anywhere.

He folded his arms lazily above his head as he stared at the screen. It was past midnight at this point and he decided he might as well go back to his dorm. He shut the computer down before he picked up his notebook and headed out.

Jisung was humming the piece he had created quietly to himself as he walked back towards the staircase. He stopped short of them in favor of the same lit up dance practice room. _He hasn’t left yet?_ Peeking in through the window on the door, Minho was spotted laying on his back, one arm folded over his eyes with the other lying by his side. His chest moved slowly up and down with each breath.

  
  


**Jisung**

@hansome

It’s late…

  
  


Without much thought, Jisung found himself opening the door and approaching the dark haired boy lying on the floor. If Minho had heard him come in, he gave no signs of making it known. “Uhm… Minho hyung?” His voice was laced with caution and a hint of worry. “Are you alright? It’s really late, shouldn’t you have left by now?”

Only slightly did Minho move his arm to be able to see him standing over him. By the looks of it, he had exhausted himself. Who knew how long he had been at it down here by himself. However long it was, Jisung knew it had been far long enough.

“I haven’t checked the time in a while,” Minho answered honestly after a moment’s thought. Even his voice sounded tired. Being up close like this Jisung could see how his white shirt stuck to his chest, revealing a vague outline of his muscles. His dark hair was slick in thin strands from the sweat on his forehead. It had to have been quite a while that he had been down here practicing.

Something tugged in Jisung’s chest. “Come on, you should go back to your dorm now.” Before he knew it he was extending a hand down for the other to grab a hold onto to get up.

Minho pushed himself up into a seated position, eyeing the offered hand. “Oh, your finger is bleeding.”

“I- what?” Jisung pulled his hand back to him and looked at his fingers. Sure enough he had a long cut on the side of his middle finger. Next he looked to his notebook and saw a small blood stain on the edge of a few pages. “Ah, paper cut.”

At this point Minho had helped himself in getting up and was already retrieving his bag. Slinging it over his shoulder, he grabbed Jisung by the wrist and began to lead him out of the room. “Come with me.”

The rate of Jisung’s heart rate quickened at the sudden movement. He wasn’t sure where this energy had come from. “What? Where the hell are we going?”

It wasn’t but a short distance before Minho stopped inside of a nearby bathroom and let go of the other’s wrist. Without much else, he gestured to the sink with a tilt of his head. “Wash your hands.”

Rubbing his now freed wrist, Jisung blinked. “Excuse me?” Was he saying that his hands were dirty? He hadn’t been touching anything apart from the computer in the room he had previously stayed in. Did he really get dragged into the bathroom for this?

“Your cut. Wash it,” Minho specified.

“Oh. Uhm… o-okay?”

Jisung rolled his sleeves up and did as he was told, washing his cut clean with soap and drying his hands off afterwards. If he didn’t say it was a bit awkward or uncomfortable having the other watching him like that, he would have been lying. “Was that it?”

“Hang on,” Minho hushed as he rummaged through a small pocket on his bag. “Hold out your hand and spread your fingers,” he directed to which Jisung obliged with a bit of confusion to this entire situation.

It was only when Minho pulled out a bandaid from the pocket that he finally understood. Carefully and delicately, he wrapped the bandaid snugly around the cut finger. Jisung’s cheeks began to heat up slightly by the gesture of Minho’s soft fingers applying the bandaid to his finger.

“There.” Minho crumpled up the wrapper and threw it away before readjusting his bag strap on his shoulder.

Jisung looked down at his hand and couldn’t help but to snort at the choice of bandaid. “What the hell is up with the hello kitty bandaid?”

Minho deadpanned. “What? You have a problem with hello kitty?”

Immediately he changed his demeanor. “N-no,” Jisung quickly shook his head. He shouldn’t have said that. “No problems here, I was just not expecting you of all people to pick out something like that.”

Minho’s expression failed to change. “I don’t get it. What do you mean by me of all people’?”

Jisung sweat dropped slightly. If the right words were there, he was definitely not choosing any of them. “N-never mind,” he decided. “Uhm, what I meant to say was, uh, thanks for that?”

There he was again saying things that were unnecessary. Why did he have to even comment on something like that when Minho had only been helping him without anyone asking him to? He let out an inaudible sigh. 

“It’s just cute,” Jisung said then quickly added, “the choice in design, I mean.” He ran a hand through his hair, letting his eyes wander to the mirror as he did so. He looked back at the older who had been patient with letting him talk first. “I had only gone in there because I was concerned with why you were still there. I thought no sane person should still be there this late. Especially if I knew they had definitely been there for even before I first walked up. And you shouldn’t be sleeping on the floor of a dance practice room. It’s not good for you.”

Minho blinked twice and watched him for a second as if he were trying to come up with a response to that. His face relaxed a bit as he let out a small laugh. “I had been there for a long time, hadn’t I? Ah, but what can I do? I kind of needed to,” he shrugged.

He didn’t seem to allow the other to ask him what he meant by that as he was already walking out of the bathroom and en route for the staircase. Jisung was close behind him, catching up to his side. He hadn’t meant to stare. The memory of accidentally seeing the two messages on Felix’s phone came back to him as he studied him. He didn’t know exactly what the context of the messages were, but one thing he knew for sure was just how highly Felix thought of Minho. He wouldn’t be surprised if there really was something going on between them.

In all of his years of knowing him, he hadn’t really heard him talk about someone in such a way that he did about Minho. The way he had spoke about him earlier seemed to be very genuine and warm feeling. If someone had asked Jisung if he could see those things when he had first met the older, he would have laughed in their face. But now, after giving him a chance, he could see it. Oh how he was beginning to see exactly what Felix saw.

Initially, he thought of his hyung being very isolated and disinterested, maybe even a bit of an egoist. To be fair, he thought similar things for Changbin too with the way he presented himself. In both situations he was proving to be a horrible people reader by first encounters. He wanted to be able to change that. Maybe if he just let people talk before assuming this about them, things would be easier for him. As for now, he figures out how wrong he was after his first impression.

As for Lee Minho? From where he stood now, Jisung was ashamed at himself for thinking he was some big-headed senior that just happened to be at the top of his major with probably just a little bit of luck. Except for when Jisung provoked him first, he hadn’t seemed to be an asshole at any point in time. Even when he interrupted the meeting between him with Hyunjin and Felix, he didn’t yell or annoyingly shoo him out. He just waited patiently for him to finish what he was doing. And tonight too he showed that he wasn’t a cold hearted person, but actually a caring one with how he ignored the way Jisung was there in concern for him in favor of making Jisung clean his cut so that he could put a bandaid on it for him.

Absentmindedly, Jisung stared at the cute patterned cat design on the bandaid while gently rubbing his thumb over it, the texture soothing him for some reason. It wasn’t until they got outside that one of them broke the silence.

“I guess I should get some sleep now,” Minho finally stated, face upwards to the night sky. It was too cloudy to see much of anything besides the dim moon. If it weren’t for the lamps that lined the edge of the sidewalk, it would be too hard to see much of anything. “Oh yeah,” he remembered, rolling his head sideways to see Jisung. “You’re not half bad as a dancer when you’re drunk as fuck.”

Jisung shuffled his feet to avoid tripping over them from the sudden compliment. He guessed he must have seen the video on Chan’s page. But still he had not been expecting for him to compliment him, let alone say _anything_ about it. “Oh… you saw that,” he smiled shyly. “I only learned a little bit from Felix, so I’m definitely not _nearly_ as good as either you or him, or even Hyunjin.” He held up his notebook before adding, “I think I will just stick to making music.”

A puff of air escaped Minho’s nose as a small smile crept onto his face. “Felix…” he repeated softly. He was looking back up towards the cloudy night sky. “Your friend really amazes me. I’m grateful to him.”

“Yeah,” Jisung breathed out without much effort. “He is amazing.” His voice was traveling off to somewhere that wasn’t towards Minho. He looked down at his notebook with an unreadable expression. He was holding it with both of his hands now, fingers pressing firmly against its leather cover. After a second passed he lowered it to his side, relaxing again. “I’ll head out first,” he said, giving Minho one last look. “Goodnight, hyung. Get some rest.” And with that he headed towards his dorm, leaving Minho behind him to go his own way.

  
  


**Jisung**

@hansome

They really are amazing…

**Jeongin** @notyouroppa

Who?

**Jisung** @hansome

@notyouroppa you, Innie. You’re amazing

Jeongin @notyouroppa

🥺💕

  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> mint_oreo_lover, if you’re out there, thank you for your suggestion of having 3RACHA produce WOW ^ - ^ It actually helped me plan more things for the future
> 
> To everyone else, thank you as always for reading this far~ If you have any suggestions, I will consider them with an open mind and any comments I will happily read ❤︎


	9. Chapter 9

**Jisung**

@hansome

Who gives their students a history paper within the first few weeks of school? Outrageous.

**Jeongin** @notyouroppa

Isn’t writing your specialty?

**Jisung** @hansome

@notyouroppa I don’t think lyrical ballads about the three kingdoms are what the professor had in mind. Even if they were, I wouldn’t have a clue 😶

  
  


“Oi, Feliiiiix,” Jisung whined, hugging the younger’s arm. Their first class had just been dismissed. Everyone was already packing up to leave but Jisung had stopped his friend from getting up. “Come on, just help me out a little bit.”

“I told you, I’m not good at Korean history. I would rather you not fail,” Felix sighed through a small smile. “Now, if you ever have to write a paper about Australian history, I got you covered.”

Adjusting the strap of his bag onto his shoulder, Seungmin stopped in the middle of the two. “I could help,” he offered.

Jisung snapped his head up at that and looked at him with a bright smile. “Really? You’ll help me?”

“Sure,” Seungmin promised with a nod. “I’m good at history and you’re good at writing so it shouldn’t be too much of a hassle.”

Standing up, Felix gave a small pat to Jisung’s back. “Look at that, Sungie. You got yourself a guaranteed A. I believe in you two,” he smiled, giving them a thumbs up before he left for his next class with Hyunjin.

“So,” Jisung started as he hopped up from his chair in glee. “Where should we do this? You come to my place? I go to yours?”

Seungmin began to walk out and head down the hall with the other following along side. “We can just meet at the library,” he suggested.

An awkward smile appeared on Jisung’s face. “Ah, right. The library. The place where everyone goes to. And everyone knows where it is… Yes.”

From the sounds of it, Seungmin didn’t think he knew where the library really was. He stopped in his tracks to look at him with a hint of confusion.

“Wait, you don’t know where the library is, do you?” He began to laugh at that. He thought that the thing about some people not knowing that place existed was just a myth.

“I-in all fairness, I haven’t been here for that long,” Jisung defended.

“Jisung. We’ve both been here for the same amount of time and, what week are we on now?” He hadn’t been serious, but the fact that the location of the other was a mystery was still very much amusing to him. “How about this,” he resumed walking once more. “I’ll just meet you outside of your last class and I’ll personally lead you there. Sound good?”

Jisung nodded slowly, still clearly embarrassed from Seungmin laughing at him. “Yeah. Yeah that sounds good. Okay, I’ll see you after my class, then.”

The two of them parted ways to go into their next class. Jisung was starting to feel good about this. His worries were already fading away as he thought back to how confident Seungmin seemed when he offered to help.

  
  


**Seungmin**

@songmin

It’s amazing how many people don’t know where the library is

**Hyunjin** @hwangjin

We have a library???

**Seungmin** @songmim

@hwangjin Now I know you know there’s a library because you were just there until after hours reading manga, you nerd

**Hyunjin** @hwangjin

Nerd? Ouchie.

**Seungmin** @songmin

@hwangjin 🥰

  
  


Before the time that Jisung’s last class had let out, Seungmin was already patiently waiting outside of the door. He had his back leaned against the wall and a notebook clasped comfortably in his hands down at his thighs. It seemed like he was zoned out into some other world but looked up with a smile when he noticed Jisung exciting the classroom. “Jisung! You ready?”

Jisung looked around and back towards him. “Have you been waiting out here this whole time?”

Seungmin shook his head with a small laugh, “no, I just got here, don’t worry. I have better things to do than stand outside of a classroom all day,” he assured before chauffeuring him towards the library. 

Jisung kept the route to the library in mind so that he wouldn’t forget where it was later on. It wasn’t that he was big on checking out books, but it would definitely be in his favor to know where the building is. The building he had imagined, in fact, was not the one they arrived at. The exterior showed two levels but inside included a third; a basement level as a quiet study area. Jisung felt his mouth hang open slightly as he looked around the first floor. “This entire building is the library?”

The first level was where the majority of everything happened. Just passed the first doors was a straight section of chairs and a few small round tables sitting in between each seat. Into the second pair of doors was the actual library. The check out desk was placed at the center of the closest wall to them and facing it were a few lines of bookshelves, a printing station, and many groups of computers and tables for people to sit at. On either side of the main counter were a set of stairs; one going down, and the other offering someone to go both up and down. On the opposite end sat an elevator option.

“This floor is where everyone usually goes,” Seungmin started to explain and pointed a finger up. “Upstairs is where a lot of reference books are. There’s also tutors there.” He then pointed down. “Downstairs is where people study or read. Don’t talk there or you’ll get kicked out. Kind of like Hyunjin did.”

“Uhuh… Wait, Hyunjin got kicked out? Why?”

“He gets sappy over manga he reads,” Seungmin shrugged. “They said he was crying too loudly. Anyways,” he said, changing the topic, “let’s go over here.”

Jisung couldn’t help but to snicker at that, though he tried his best to muffle it with his hand. He followed his friend to a group of computers that was lined up against the wall with rolling bar stools in front of them. It was out of the way enough that they would be able to concentrate but also still close enough to other people talking so they would be comfortable talking at a normal level.

“So what exactly is it that you have to write about?”

Sitting down in front of a computer, Jisung logged in and began trying to pull up the rubric for his paper. “Uhm…” He hummed, scrolling through until he found the right link. “Here. I have to describe and differentiate the Three Kingdoms and how each of them worked and what led to their falls and how we think things could have been different. That kind of stuff,” he said, watching Seungmin expectantly as he flipped through his very neat notebook.

It was like one of those bullet journals that people spent hours doing. Everything was color coded and positioned in a way that was very pleasing for someone to read through. Either he was extremely detail-oriented, or he liked to mess around. Jisung was betting on the former. Jisung has never been the type to make very clean notes on anything. Everything he ever wrote for class usually became a small part of a very long bullet point list of information. It definitely wasn’t the best way to help him study. But Seungmin’s notebook? He could see people paying money to have it.

  
  


**Jisung**

@hansome

What kind of golden notebook is this???

**Hyunjin** @hwangjin

Seungmin’s? He’s a giant nerd. Scholarship, teacher’s pet, and all 🙄

**Seungmin** @songmin

@hwangjin If I’m a teacher’s pet, then what does that make you?

**Hyunjin** @hwangjin

@songmin The good-looking one

**Seungmin** @songmin

@hwangjin You misspelled, “class clown.” I’ll tutor you too once I’m done here

  
  


**Hyunjin**

@hwangjin

The sad part is, I can’t even be mad 🤡

  
  


“Woah…” Jisung gushed over all of the detailed and pretty notes that were strategically placed on each page. “This whole thing is amazing! When’d you have time to do all of this?”

“I write down everything normal first so I can have the information then I go back and transfer it all to something else like this so I can learn it easier.”

_He writes everything TWICE? I can hardly manage writing anything ONCE._ To say Jisung was in awe was an understatement. He hadn’t ever seen anyone’s notes look like this before. But there was one thing he didn’t really get. “So if it’s only the beginning of the semester, how do you already have so many notes?”

“Those are all from high school,” Seungmin explained. “I keep everything; especially history, because I know it’s going to show up later on in university courses.”

“Damn, you really do have the big brains here… You’ve been thinking about this the entire time? That’s impressive, Seungmin.”

A bashful smile spread across Sungmin's face as he looked towards and played with the ends of his jacket. “It’s just thinking ahead so you don’t have to work so hard later,” he chuckled. “But uhm, I don’t think all of the information you need will be in here, so whatever you’re missing, I’ll try to help you search for. Okay?”

Skimming back through the pages of the notebook, Jisung nodded and began trying to piece together everything he needed. With the help of Seungmin and his notes, he was able to work diligently for an hour. Seungmin did his very best to explain things and find additional key points where Jisung was missing them. And since Jisung was more in tune with writing lyrics, Seungmin’s scholarly way of doing things helped him phrase things a lot better.

In the end, the two were able to come up with the full three pages in record time. Scrolling through the document, Jisung nodded his head in satisfaction. “I have to say, this is probably the best paper I’ve written. And it’s even done before the due date so I have more time for other things. You really helped me a lot, thanks. You said you had better things to do, so I really appreciate you doing this for me.”

Seungmin waved a dismissive hand in front of him, chuckling softly. “No, I just meant I had better things to do than wait around for something. I think this task was probably a lot more dire than whatever else I could be doing. So it’s no problem,” he assured with a genuine look on his face.

“Well,” Jisung said, saving his paper and signing off of the computer. “Come on, I’ll buy you some food as thanks because I wouldn’t have finished this quick without you.”

“Oh, sure, thanks.” Seungmin gently placed his notebook into his bag before getting up. “Should we invite the others?”

“The others,” Jisung repeated, figuring out who he was referring to after he did so. “Aren’t they probably with Minho hyung?”

“I don’t think hyung’s here today,” Seungmin shook his head. “I usually see him at the café in the mornings but he wasn’t there today.”

Minho not being here? That seemed odd. He didn’t seem like the type that would slack off or skip some days for the hell of it. “Maybe he just overslept this morning,” he thought.

If he had been doing more late night practicing, Jisung wouldn’t hold it against the man for sleeping in a little bit longer than he should. But if it meant fully skipping a class; especially if it were a dance class, Jisung thought he might be sick at that point. He would probably find out later through Felix if it were anything like that. In the meantime, he let his mind wander away from the topic in favor to get some lunch.

The two of them stopped by a local restaurant and brought food back to Seungmin’s dorm so they could relax comfortably. It had turned out that Hyunjin and Felix both had been preoccupied to join them, but the person in question of who they were with was not Minho after all. They had run into Chan and it was when the two Aussies figured out they had so much in common with each other that they found themselves talking forever. Hyunjin had been just as invested as the other two were that he missed the texts Seungmin had sent out about inviting them to eat. Seungmin and Jisung had ended up eating all the food, assuming the others would fend for themselves.

Jisung’s curiosity became stronger and stronger as time ticked on. After hanging out for a while and saying his goodbyes to Seungmin, he found himself walking to the performance building. He didn’t know _why_ he had to check. It wasn’t even that he really _had_ to. Thoughts from the night he found Minho exhausted on the floor kept coming back to him. _But that was a few days ago. He should have rested more than enough by now._

He wasn’t sure what he was expecting. Maybe he was expecting to find the dark haired boy doing what he normally did around this time. Maybe he didn’t expect him to be there after all. Seungmin did mention that he wasn’t at the café this morning.

Jisung slowly weaseled his way through the people walking around on the basement level until he got to the dance practice rooms. There were plenty of people in each, but none were that of who he was looking for. Again he failed to know why he was here. What was the point of this? He told himself he was just passing by as he made it to the little production studio that he liked to occupy. This was it. This was what he had come here for.

His writing assignment’s due date was steadily approaching, after all. There was still plenty of time for him to knock something out. His only issue was that everything he wrote was in the wrong sense. Procrastination was becoming one of his enemies. Instead of even pulling out his notebook, he played around with the music he had previously started working on. If he couldn’t think of the right words to say now, maybe doing this will strike something in him.

* * *

A week later…

  
  


**Jisung**

@hansome

This is driving me absolutely insane. I, Han Jisung, writing genius, should have been done by now.

**Chan** @cbang

You’re still not done with that?

**Changbin** @spearb

@cbang Something’s not right

  
  


Balled up on the couch, Jisung absentmindedly drug his pen across one of the pages of his notebook. He was no longer paying attention to what he was writing, for mind was completely on autopilot.

It had been a full week since he had last seen any trace of Minho. To say the least, he couldn’t help but to be a little bit worried. Though no one around him had voiced any similar concern as to why he was missing. He tried being around the bush when he tried to pull information from Felix, but all he got was that he was just probably busy. But for an entire week? Not even showing up to classes? Not that Jisung has been checking to see if the man had showed up or anything.

Suddenly the bedroom door flew open with Felix running out of it, yelling about something with his phone in his hand. “Jisung! Jisung!”

The volume of his voice coming from what was once complete silence was enough to send Jisung into cardiac arrest. He had dropped his pen somewhere into the couch cushion in the midst of him being startled.

Felix basically threw himself onto the couch, nearly missing the other’s body. He was practically shoving his phone in his face. “Look! Look!”

“God damn, Felix! I almost had a heart attack! What is this? Why are you yelling?”

“Sorry,” Felix apologized, patting Jisung’s head softly. “But look at this.”

It was a YouTube video. A music video of one of a very popular kpop group, to be exact. Dumbfoundedly he stared at the screen. Jisung was already deeply lost, but it didn’t seem like Felix was willing to elaborate yet with the way he already hit the play button. It wasn’t until about halfway through that he seemed like something was really familiar. He just couldn’t put his finger on it.

Once the video was done, Felix put his phone down and grabbed Jisung by the shoulders. With how close their faces were now, Jisung could feel the excitement radiating off of the one holding onto him. “I learned that choreography! Minho hyung is the one that taught it to me and Hyunjin!”

Suddenly everything clicked. From Minho practicing for long periods of time for something that wasn’t school related to him being absent for a week. He had been preparing for this group’s comeback secretly and now had left to perform with them.

“This video was posted a few days ago, but the performance stage is new and he’s definitely in that too.” Felix was smiling even brighter now. “Gosh, hyung’s so cool. I definitely see how he’s got that top spot in his major. He’s always working so hard and even became a part of something like this.”

Jisung’s expression softened, eyes looking somewhere at his hands in his lap. “Yeah…”

Felix gave him a curious look at the change in his demeanor. “You good?”

Was he good? He was really starting to understand the way he felt now. Sadly for him, however, he was too late. But he couldn’t tell Felix that. Not right now, anyways.

“Hm? Yeah. Yeah I’m good,” he nodded, trying his best to push all of his thoughts out of the way even for a little bit. He lifted his gaze back up to meet Felix’s. He hoped that he wasn’t being too obvious. “So, how did you guys learn it then without him leaking the song or anything else?”

“Well, he didn’t tell us _what_ we were helping him with really, so we didn’t know that it was for this. And as far as the song goes, he had a video of the choreography, but it wasn’t of anyone from the group and the lyrics were removed. Honestly I think it just made things harder for him without him being able to play the music with the lyrics because much of the song sounds the same throughout, I think.”

Minho had been very careful about everything, indeed. He only picked two people to help him get an idea of where his position would be to reduce the chance of anyone knowing what he was up to. And only using a version of the song without the lyrics when he was with them? Jisung could only imagine how challenging that was for him. Maybe when it was only him in the studio did he play the actual song. Regardless, now he knew exactly what he meant when he said he had to keep practicing like he did.

Suddenly Jisung embraced Felix in a warm hug, catching him off guard. “You did really good, Lix. You did such a good job. I’m proud of you.” And he was. He was always so proud of his friend, but for this he felt extra proud. “You and Hyunjin did good.”

Frozen from the sudden embrace, Felix sat there blinking in confusion. “A-ah, thank you? I’m not the one that made it on stage, though.”

“I know,” Jisung sighed, hugging him a bit tighter. “But you still did your part and helped someone else so that they could.” He pulled away now so that he could look at him again. “I’m sure that one day you’ll be the one on the stage. And I’m here to support you in every single thing that you do, okay?”

“O-okay,” Felix nodded slowly. “Are you sure you’re feeling alright?” The amount of sentiment he was getting out of the blue was concerning him. Not that Jisung wasn’t a sentimental person or constantly voiced his support. Something just felt different this time.

“Yeah, I am. But… You know… maybe I should get some air?” Jisung thought for a moment. “All of these writing assignments are getting to my head. I have too many things flying around in here,” he said, pointing to his head. Carefully he stood up from the couch and made his way to the door. “I’ll be right back.”

Felix quietly watched him leave before he picked up his phone from where he dropped it previously.

  
  


**Felix**

@fabulix

Something is off

**Changbin** @spearb

Is it what I hope it is?

**Felix** @fabulix

@spearb What’s that?

**Changbin** @spearb

T-the stove…?

**Chan** @cbang

@spearb Did you just stutter via typing?

  
  


**Felix**

@fabulix

Wait. What’s this?


	10. Chapter 10

It was on the third day of Felix picking up on Jisung’s out of ordinary behavior that he decided to speak up. To anyone who didn’t really know the hardly older boy, they might think that there was nothing going on inside of that head of his. But to Felix, his friend of many years, he found strangeness in his supportive and cheerful ways. Luckily for him, he already had a part of the puzzle figured out.

Recently Jisung had been spending a large amount of time in the production studios rather than back at the dorm with Felix. Felix on the other hand was starting to feel a bit lonely with the way he had the dorm to himself. He knew he wouldn’t last for much longer like this so he decided to wait up for Jisung’s arrival. And he didn’t have to wait very long for said boy to come waltzing in through the door.

“It’s dark as hell in here…” Jisung murmured to himself as he slipped through the door. All of the lights had been turned off and the curtains had been drawn, leaving the room in enough darkness for someone that had just come in to not be able to see much of anything at all. He started to feel around on the wall for the light switch. “I guess Felix is already a-“

His heart stopped cold as the light switched, allowing him to see Felix who had set up camp waiting for him. Patiently and quietly he sat in a chair directly in front of the door only a few feet away, arms comfortably crossed as his waist.

Yelling in fear, Jisung dropped his key and notebook onto the floor, frantically throwing the door back open and running into the hallway. Since his eyes hadn’t adjusted to the light, he hadn’t been able to tell it was just Felix. Regardless, he was scared shitless and his instinct was to run.

  
  


**Jisung**

@hansome

WHAT THE DUCK

**Jeongin** @notyouroppa

🦆?

  
  


**Felix**

@fabulix

Oops?

  
  


**Felix**

@fabulix

Lost boy, last seen running out of dorm after I accidentally spooked him

Please return to me if found

Reward

[ image attached ]

**Changbin** @spearb

What’s the reward?

**Felix** @fabulix

@spearb Uhhh… 1 hug? 🤗

  
  


**Changbin**

@spearb

I apologize in advance to everyone who is currently on campus right now

  
  


**Chan**

@cbang

I’ve never seen this man run so quick in my life

  
  


“HAN JISUNG!”

Jisung looked around in confusion for who was calling his name. He was about to run again, thinking it was the person from his dorm room but thought that the voice sounded very familiar. He didn’t have to think hard about it until he saw Changbin flying towards him.

“H-hyung?! Are you being targeted too?! Wow, I don’t think I’ve ever heard you yell so loud be- Wait that’s not the point.” He cut himself off, going back to the matter at hand. “Hyung, there was someone waiting for me in my dorm! They were just sitting there when I walked in- wait where’s Felix?!”

He began to panic again but Changbin got a hold of his arms gently but firmly enough to where he wouldn’t dash. “Hey,” he said, getting his attention. “That _was_ Felix. I don’t know why, but he said he accidentally spooked you.”

Jisung fell silent, confusion filling up his face. “Huh?”

“Yeah, look,” Changbin stuck a hand in his hoodie pocket to pull out his phone and show him the tweet. “See?”

Confusion draped over Jisung’s face, his body relaxing now. “That was… Felix? You have post notifs on for him?” He asked, noticing the icon for it lit up.

“N-no,” Changbin denied, quickly shoving his phone back into his hoodie pocket. He cleared his throat and put an arm around Jisung’s shoulders. “That’s not the point here. I think someone’s waiting for you for whatever reason that might be.”

At that moment, Felix pulled up around the corner. He was panting slightly once he caught up to them. For such a short amount of time, Jisung sure had put a lot of distance between him and their dorm. “H-hey…” Felix panted, taking a second to catch his breath. “God you can run fast…” Noticing the older, he stood up straight. “Oh, Changbin hyung. You found him first.”

Changbin quickly reverted back to reserved mode at the feeling of Felix giving him his reward hug for finding Jisung. It didn’t last but a few seconds but Changbin still found his heart melting at the short embrace. No doubt he was satisfied.

“Sorry, for bothering you this late,” Felix apologized to which the older waved a hand dismissively. “But thanks for this. We have some talking to do so I'll be taking him back in now. Sleep well, hyung.”

“Goodnight, Felix. And you,” he pointed sternly at Jisung. “You behave.” Once Jisung nodded he let himself head back to Chan’s room, mumbling, “who in the world would run away from him,” under his breath.

Jisung’s wrist was yanked softly by Felix as he was walked back to their dorm. “What the hell did you scare me for, Lix? I couldn’t even tell it was you. I thought it was some murderer.”

“I wasn’t going to let another day pass before we talked,” Felix answered simply and with not enough detail for Jisung to understand what he meant exactly.

“We talk everyday. Multiple times throughout the day at that. We never shut up.”

Felix shook his head. “Things are weird. Not bad weird, but weird.” He wasn’t sure exactly how to word it so he decided with, “how’s that project of yours coming along?”

Jisung opened his mouth but shut it again when he knew that it wasn’t completely done. Had he been working on it? Yes. Did he get things accomplished? Also yes. Was it at a point that he could turn it in? Most definitely not.

“Exactly.”

Felix led him back into the dorm and shut the door behind them. He had already picked up what Jisung had dropped prior to running out and put them on the table where Felix’s phone laid. He prompted Jisung to sit down in front of it.

Jisung’s mouth parted slightly as he realized why he had placed it there. He looked from the phone screen to Felix above him. “Why’s this on your phone?”

It was the video he had taken that day he went to deliver Felix’s phone to him. Only, he could have sworn he did it with his own phone. _Damn it, Jisung. I didn’t do that with my phone after all?_

“That’s my line. But I watched it and,” Felix slowly drug his finger across the bottom of the screen to move slowly through the frames of the video. “It seems like you prioritized only one of us.”

The video did show all three of them, however Felix was right. The main focus of the video was on Minho with no doubt. Jisung fidgeted slightly in his chair. He was trying to read Felix’s expression but he found it to be a bit hard with the way he was standing expectantly with his arms comfortably crossed in front of him. He couldn’t hold it in anymore. He was being called out. He was caught.

“I’m sorry, Felix. I shouldn’t have been recording like that. I didn’t notice whose phone it was. I just really enjoyed the way you guys were dancing. Maybe I did get a little distracted. I can’t change the way I feel, but I still support you with everything. You know that, right?”

Felix’s arms slowly lowered as he listened to him. “Wait, what are you talking about?” Did Jisung think he was mad at him for secretly recording them practicing? It wasn’t like he was posting it online exposing that any one of them were the backup dancers for the famous group. But more than that, he didn’t know what he meant by the last thing he said. What did _he_ think this was about?

“You were friends first so I’m not going to try anything. You have your rights. But I have mine too.”

“I must be missing something here,” Felix said, trying his best to understand. “Or maybe you are.”

Jisung took a deep breath before he continued talking. “I know, Felix. I didn’t mean to, but I saw the messages hyung had sent you.” It didn’t look like Felix had caught on yet so he continued. “The thing about being rewarded for doing something for him? Even with the way you praise him, Lix, I can put two and two together.”

It took a moment but finally Felix understood what was going on. Despite him having been a bit wrong about everything, he had still been on the right track. Suddenly he started laughing loudly, finding this to be too funny. Jisung, however, was a bit startled from it. He must have thought that he was mad at him. Felix had to turn around for a second to wipe his eyes from laughing so hard.

  
  


**Jisung**

@hansome

On a scale of 1 to very worried, yes.

  
  


“Oh this is great,” he chuckled, calming down enough to face him again. “Sungie. You’re wrong. But I love you so much for the way you think,” he said, embracing him in a short hug.

“I’m what?”

“Wrong,” Felix repeated. “To put things simply, I’m not in any sort of relationship with Minho hyung. And that message? He was talking about us helping him practice so much and the really expensive food he bought for us as thanks.”

Jisung looked dumbfounded. This couldn’t be right. He couldn’t be wrong. “But the way you talk-“

Felix stopped him right there. “I talk the same way about you to them. You’re just never around to hear it. Really you’re most of what I talk about.” He laughed through a sigh. “Jisung, I _promise_ it’s not what you think.”

There was nothing but sincerity in both his eyes and smile. But did Felix really talk in the same way about him? There was nothing that contradicted it so Jisung could only let himself believe his words.

Hands cupped Jisung’s cheeks, squishing them gently. “Ah, Sungie, you’re so cute,” Felix cooed.

“Prease don’t do dat,” Jisung murmured through his face being smooshed.

“I’m sorry,” Felix half heartedly apologized, taking his hands back. “But this is good! This is great! Things are clear now so you can stop acting on edge. And hey, now you should _definitely_ be able to finish that writing project of yours.”

Felix was right. Now that he knew the two of them weren’t some thing, he didn’t have to feel like he had to tread carefully around them. It was like a weight was lifted off of him. He could get something accomplished now.

  
  


**Jisung**

@hansome

I’ve got this now

**Felix** @fabulix

🥳

  
  


—

The next day Jisung jumped completely over his writing block, making well more than the assigned amount of good, positive writing. He was back and he felt good. Once classes were over, he headed to Chan’s room with Felix. It was due time for a hangout, or perhaps even a celebration.

The unlocked door was thrown open by a loud Jisung. “J.One is back!” He announced excitedly, throwing his things onto a nearby chair in the midst of it.

“J.One is loud,” Changbin corrected from where he laid on the couch. He was stretched completely out along the length of the couch on his stomach with his laptop sitting in front of him. A music production program was open on the screen.

Felix chuckled from behind him, coming into the room before getting the door behind him. “Come on, hyung. Let him be happy.”

If he hadn’t known Felix was there before, he sure did now. His hand shot up to the lid of his laptop and nearly slammed it close before he scrambled into a sitting position. “Oh, you’re here too,” he said and shot Chan a sideways glance.

“I had to invite my little brother,” Chan shrugged nonchalantly to which Changbin looked at him with something that seemed like he was saying, ‘you didn’t tell me that.’ He was good at telepathically communicating with Changbin like that.

  
  


**Changbin**

@spearb

Chan is going to ruin me. I can feel it

**Chan** @cbang

Get off your phone

**Minho** @meowho

@cbang That sounds a bit hypocritical

  
  


“Anyways,” Chan said, moving to Jisung. “We’re gathered here today because Jisung has finally come back to his senses. So in celebration we’re getting food and giving you a song.”

“A song?” Jisung echoed.

“You get to write it. I’m working on sending it to you,” Changbin explained, huddled over his laptop that sat in his lap. Felix had planted himself beside the older and was trying his best to see around him to see what exactly he was doing. The way Felix stretched over with his hands in his lap reminded him something like a meerkat and needless to say, he found it to be highly adorable. “Are you curious?”

A toothy smile spread across Felix’s face instantly. “Very.”

Changbin flashed a devious smile back in response. “You’ll have to wait~” he said in a singsong voice, causing Felix‘s smile to disappear as quickly as it had came. Clearly he was let down by not being able to hear it now. It shouldn’t be that much of a wait if Jisung finished up quickly.

“Are you two staying here or coming with us to eat?”

Changbin tapped a finger quickly down onto the enter button to finish sending the file to Jisung. He then closed his laptop, automatically sending it into locked mode. No one would be getting into that without a password. He set it down beside him on the couch before getting up and joining the others. “I’m coming, I’m coming.”

Staying back and alone with Felix? He would probably die from embarrassment. At least being with the others while he was around calmed his nerves a little bit. Chan would definitely pay for this. He nudged said boy in the side with his elbow as he walked past him.

  
  


( Hey Lix )

**Lix**

( Why are you texting me )

( I’m literally right here )

  
  


( Shhhhh! )

( I’m not texting you at all )

( Stop looking at me )

  
  


**Lix**

( ??? )

  
  


( Listen. It’s my turn to know now since you got something out of me )

( Do you by chance like Changbin hyung? )

  
  


**Lix**

( … )

( Was that obvious? )

  
  


( Didn’t we just have a conversation about how I thought you and Minho hyung were an item? )

( I was just wondering 😇 )

( I had a hunch about something )

  
  


**Lix**

( What do you mean? )

( Jisung pick your phone up again and explain 😭 )

  
  


At this point Jisung had already put his phone up out of sight and out of mind. There was a highly satisfied look on his face that worked at Felix’s nerves. Little to Felix’s knowledge, it was clear how Changbin felt. Felix has just never seen how Changbin normally acts without him there so of course he wouldn’t have a clue that his extra timid nature is because of him. But lucky for him, Jisung saw that himself and was taking it upon himself to help the two out. He had some time to kill, after all.

When they arrived at the Korean BBQ restaurant, Jisung was quick with sitting in front of Chan so the remaining two would have to sit in front of each other. Changbin took his place beside Jisung with Felix beside Chan so that he would still be able to stare Jisung down.

Chan waited until everyone was distracted with deciding what kind of meat to order to pull out his phone and send a message to Jisung.

  
  


**Chan Hyung**

( I have a feeling that we’re now working together on this Changbin thing )

  
  


( Is that what you’ve been doing? )

( I got a feeling from Changbin hyung, but I just learned of Felix’s perspective )

  
  


**Chan Hyung**

( Let’s have fun with this then 🤝 )

  
  


They exchanged a knowing look without the other two being able to notice. Chan spared a short glance at Changbin just to get a read on him. To him it was obvious that he was trying his best to keep his eyes away from the boy in front of him. The other in question kept watching Jisung as if he wanted something from him. Jisung, however, made no signs of even noticing. He was going to have to loosen his friends up a little bit.

“ _So Felix,_ ” Chan turned towards the younger, suddenly switching to English. He figured this was a good way to make him feel more comfortable. And if he was comfortable, Changbin would be soon to follow. “ _How much of a drinker are you?_ ”

Felix cut his staring short to look at Chan instead. The English was definitely the fastest way to get his full attention. “ _Uh… I can’t say I’ve really drunk enough to know?_ ”

He couldn’t remember a time that he’s gotten drunk off of anything before. Sure, he’s had some casual drinks, but he had never tested his limits before. Drinking parties were never his thing.

“ _Would you care for some if we ordered a round?_ ”

Felix shrugged his shoulders, seeming okay with the idea. “ _Sure, I’m down for that._ ”

  
  


**Changbin**

@spearb

I wish I would have studied English a lot harder than I did 😞

**Minho** @meowho

You and me both

**Changbin** @spearb

@meowho You too?

**Minho** @meowho

It comes in handy

  
  


After a few bottles and plates of meat having been grilled and eaten, Jisung hopped down from his seat, excusing himself to the bathroom. Chan was in the middle of clearing off the grill of cooked pork when his phone started buzzing in his pocket. With his free hand he took it out and watched the screen for a second before hurriedly placing the rest of the pork onto one of the many plates scattering the table.

“Hang on for a moment, I’ll be right back,” he said, already accepting whatever call he received and moving to a quieter spot so he could hear the person on the other end.

Suddenly Changbin felt nervous again. Without his friends’ presence, he became super self conscious. Slowly he looked up at Felix who didn’t seem at all bothered by it just being the two of them for the moment with the way he was happily eating his food. _I didn’t drink enough for this._ His leg bounced in time with his thoughts, trying to think of something to say. Anything.

“You’re English is really good.”

_You dumbass. Of course his English is really good. He’s from Australia._ Changbin was mentally cursing himself when Felix spoke up.

“Oh. Hyung, I’m sorry. You probably felt left out with all of that.”

That wasn’t the response he had been expecting at all. Leave it to Felix to always think of things differently in the way that he did. The apologetic look on his delicate face made Changbin’s heart dip. “No, no! It’s alright! I got the gist of it,” he half lied. His vocabulary was horrible if he was being honest with himself. The little bit he knew was far from him getting the gist of anything, but he wasn’t about to admit that. “I was just- I think it’s nice, is all. The way you speak it.”

Heat rose up to the tips of Felix’s ears at the compliment. As subtle as he could, he rubbed one of them in between his fingers, hoping the heat would equal out so they wouldn’t be red. Thankfully for his pride, Changbin hadn’t seemed to notice. “Thanks, but you probably hear a lot of that kind of stuff from Chan hyung. We’re from the same place after all.”

It was true that he heard a lot of English coming from the older, but it was nowhere near the same as the way Felix sounded despite having similar accents. The deepness of the younger’s voice was enticing, for starters. It could narrate even an old folk’s home bingo match and he would still want to listen to it.

“It’s different when it’s coming from you,” Changbin absentmindedly let slip as he was playing with the shot glass that was in front of him. The thumb rubbing up against the rim of it stopped when he realized what he had said. Slowly he lowered his head so that his dark hair served as a curtain in front of his face. Without really looking, he grabbed the soju bottle in front of him and filled up his shot glass. He told himself he hadn’t let that slip out and threw the shot back quickly to help him believe that.

Lucky for him Jisung had made his way back to their table, rejoining them with a heavy sigh. “I feel better now. Hey, where’d hyung go?” He didn’t seem to notice Felix’s look that was telling him that he had interrupted their conversation.

  
  


**Felix**

@fabulix

🤔

  
  


By the end of the dinner and with the help of some bottles of soju, tweedle dee and tweedle dum had finally become relaxed in each other’s presence. Chan took the lead by exiting the restaurant with Jisung hurrying up to his side to start discussing something about one of the songs Jisung had been working on lately. This left Changbin and Felix to be further behind them.

Felix’s pace slowed, giving space between him and the two in front of him. At this distance he could no longer hear what they were saying clearly. He was watching the people pass by until he fixed his gaze onto the older who was just a few steps ahead of him. After a moment of watching, a single breath of a laugh escaped the smile on his face.

Changbin turned his head at the sound. He looked around for what could possibly be amusing around them but failed to find it. He wondered if it were himself that Felix laughed at but he already found something else to watch. “What is it?”

“I think it’s a bit funny,” Felix hummed, comfortably fitting his hands into his pockets. “I used to think you were scary. Now it’s the opposite.”

_The opposite?_ _Funny? What’s the other side of being scary?_ Changbin couldn’t come up with anything else so he asked for clarification, “what, you think I’m funny?”

“I think you’re cute.”

If he had been even a step further away from him, he would have definitely missed that with the way Felix had whispered it so quietly. The sound of that alone made Changbin trip over his own feet. Thanks to Felix snatching him up by the arm, Changbin was saved from falling straight on his face. His hand flew to his mouth, muffling himself from being overheard by the two walking in front of them, unknowing to the events behind them.

Quickly steadied himself up on his own two feet again, Changbin glanced at their friends then back to Felix, who he decided was just slightly intoxicated from the restaurant. Drunk was too strong of a word to describe him at this time. He was toasty at best. They both were. And that might just have been the reason that the dark haired boy took the other by the wrist and led him away from their friends quietly and to a less crowded spot.

They stopped on the inner edge of a sidewalk where there were less by passers. Realizing Changbin still had a hold of Felix’s wrist, he quickly let go and apologized for it. “Felix.”

“Hyung?”

“What did you just say?”

Felix looked a bit confused. A moment passed before he tried, “I just said hyung?”

“No, no.” Changbin shook his head, sighing afterwards. “A minute ago.”

Felix took another second to think before a big, toothy smile appeared on his face. “Ahhhh! Back there? Sorry, hyung. Should I have not called you cute? It’s okay if you don’t think the same. It won’t change anything.”

Hearing it a second time only caused Changbin’s heartbeat to quicken. So he really thought he was cute? Or was this just the alcohol talking? They do say that the truth slips out when you’ve been drinking. His head dipped slightly, his eyes watching the ground as he tried to pull some courage out of him.

“No, it’s not that,” he started, lifting his head back up. There was a shy smile on his face but a look of determination. “I just want to make sure that you really feel the way that I hope you do and it’s not just the drinks talking, because…” he began trailing off as his confidence did. He was trying so hard to get it out, but he didn’t want to look stupid in the process.

A soft hand enveloped one of Changbin’s as the deep voice spoke again, quietly this time. “Hyung, by chance, do you think I’m cute too?”

The way that Felix looked so softly at him made him want to collapse right there. The contact of his hand was burning his own. God, it was so soft and warm. At the same time it felt like electricity.

Changbin bit the corner of his lip before he let out a small laugh, “I think you’re fucking adorable.”

  
  


**Chan**

@cbang

Okay, one… two… we’re missing something

**Minho** @meowho

What are you missing

**Chan** @cbang

Where’s Felix and Changbin??

**Minho** @meowho

Oh thank god

  
  


**Changbin**

@spearb

@meowho what was that?

**Minho** @meowho

… that’s not what I meant

  
  


**Minho**

@meowho

One day Changbin will stop bullying his hyungs

**Chan** @cbang

I’d love to see it

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed this little section dedicated to Changlix ❤︎ Now back to the story ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)


	11. Chapter 11

Jisung was in a good mood when the time came for him and Felix to walk together to eat breakfast with Hyunjin. The calm feelings stayed even when his friend didn’t stick around the entire time in favor of following Changbin to his class. He thought the two of them were cute together and he praised himself for slightly hinting to Felix about how the more shy of the two felt. Yes, Jisung did good yet again.

“Did I miss something from yesterday?”

Hyunjin’s neck was in danger of snapping with the way he was angling it in the process of watching the couple leave the building.

“Hm… With the help of their wonderful friends, they realized something.” Jisung’s smile was that of a proud one, yet it held some softness to it. “Also, Felix was feeling really confident after dinner,” he added as he draped an arm around his friend’s shoulders to lead him to their own class building.

“That’s interesting though,” Hyunjin thought aloud as he followed alongside. “Felix is all sunshine and Changbin is night time.”

“Don’t let him fool you. Hyung is sunny day too. He just needs to be comfortable.”

The two departed from each other at the halfway point to their classes, leaving Jisung to enter his writing class alone. He greeted those who sat around him before taking his seat and laying his bag on top of the desk. He needed to transfer his assignment from his writing notebook to something he could physically turn in.

After opening his bag and rummaging through its contents, he suddenly froze. The notebook was missing from the bag. Quickly he looked the bag all over, searching for any sort of hole that it could have fallen out of. In the end the bag was just as sturdy and solid as it was when he first got it.

  
  


**Jisung**

@hansome

What-

  
  


“Fuck…” Jisung uttered under his breath. He looked up and all around him in the room. The professor had yet to walk in. There was no time for waiting according to Jisung’s anxiety. He looked to his friend beside him. The least he could do was have a message passed along to the professor so it wouldn’t look like he was skipping. “Hey, do you think you could let the professor know that I had to leave? My assignment is in my notebook, but it isn’t in here. I need to go find it.”

“Sure, go ahead. Good luck finding it.”

“Thanks,” Jisung bowed slightly before grabbing his bag and running out of the room. Maybe if he found it quickly he could still make it back to class, but where would it be? The memory of where he last saw it was far out of his brain.

The production room he used was out of the question. He was certain that he had never left it in there only because he had a habit of flicking the light off when he exited each time with the spine of his book. Changbin’s place was also off the list since he knew he had it well after he was last there. The first place he thought to look was Chan’s dorm. He tended to take things there and may or may not forget about them whenever he left. After all, he did frequent there especially for making music with his hyungs.

Many faces blurred by as Jisung ran as fast as his feet would take him. Passerbys quickly migrated out of the center of the walkway and towards the edges, trying their best to not get run over by the frantic boy. Laying down and staying still might be a hobby of his, but he could definitely run when he needed to. And right now he had adrenaline rushing through his body.

Once Chan’s dorm room was in sight, he didn’t slow down when reaching for the handle, knowing it would already be waiting unlocked for him. He belted through the threshold and stopped shortly inside so he could catch his breath and look around for the tenant.

“H-hyung!” He panted out, though no one answered.

_ Of course, he’s in class right now. _ He didn’t want to mess anything up but he couldn’t wait for his friend to come back. The good news was that Chan was a very tidy person. Everything was always neatly placed on tables and drawers were organized well. This played very well onto Jisung’s side.

As carefully as he could, Jisung shifted through drawers and papers he found on top of the table. His hands were shaking as he tried to be clean while looking around for his precious notebook. There was no sign of it anywhere in the living room, Chan’s room, or anywhere around the desk. The only notebooks he found belonged to his hyungs.

With a heavy and uneven sigh, Jisung pushed everything back into place as he first found it. Or at least as close as he remembered everything initially being. He didn’t want to upset Chan for barging into his room and making a mess. Though he knew he wouldn’t mind the intrusion.

Jisung combed a hand through his hair, leaving a wave of hair sitting on top of his head as he looked around one last time. It wasn’t here. Onto the next place.

Again he didn’t waste any time in making it to his own dorm room.  _ It has to be here. There’s no other spot,  _ is what he repeated to himself over and over as he recklessly ravaged through his belongings in his shared dorm. He was beginning to panic.

Drawers were yanked open, pillows were thrown across the room, even the couch cushions were flipped over as if he might have somehow lost it in between one of them. The only thing found there was his pen. Bitterly he threw the pen, making a small mark on the wall where it collided before falling still onto the floor.

Jisung sat in the midst of his mess with his face in his hands. He didn’t want to look at what he did to the room. At that moment, he honestly didn’t give a single shit about it. He was upset with himself for having lost something so important to him.  _ How do you lose something as important as that, you fucking idiot? _

Standing up, he took his bag by strap and slung it onto the floor, spilling out it’s contents everywhere as it slid away from him. The absence of his notebook in the collection only made him clench his fists tightly into balls by his side. He was angry and he needed to get out before he did anything else to the room. Finishing his classes for today would no longer be on his agenda.

  
  


**Felix**

@fabilix

Uhm?? Help??? What happened to my dorm???

**Changbin** @spearb

What happened to it?

**Felix** @fabulix

@spearb I/ I don’t know

  
  


It didn’t take but ten minutes before Changbin made it to the room. Felix had left the door open for the older to let himself in.

“Felix…?”

Changbin carefully opened the door, peeking his head in the space between it and the door frame. The sight of inside caused him to swing it open and rush inside, shocked by what he walked into. This wasn’t what he had been expecting.

Felix was crouched down, trying to gather things off of the floor and back to where they belonged. So far he had managed to get the couch cushions back to their rightful spot on the couch and Jisung’s bag up with his things placed neatly back into it. His current task was putting things back into a drawer of his and Jisung’s room.

“Holy shit- Felix what happened? Why is everything a mess? Did you get robbed?” He didn’t hesitate in crouching down with him to help clean.

Felix shook his head, unsure himself. “I told you, I don’t know. I came in and it was like this. But, apart from the living room, it’s only Jisung’s stuff that’s messed up,” he explained as he fitted the drawer shut with a small thud. “I tried calling him multiple times but his phone is off. And his last tweet didn’t give me any idea either. I’m worried.”

He didn’t know what to think. The only thing he knew was that the only things left untouched were his own. Did Jisung do this? Did someone break in to find something of Jisung’s? But there would have been no way of knowing whose stuff was whose. Only Jisung would know that, but where even was the boy in question? Felix had no sort of contact from him except for his last tweet. He really didn’t want to blame Jisung for this mess, not at least until he knew what was wrong. His friend had been perfectly fine this morning, after all and he wasn’t the sort to randomly destroy things even if he did get in a mood.

Changbin frowned at the sight of the smaller boy being in distress. He reached over and pulled him into a hug. “Hey, hey, it’s going to be alright.” His voice was as soft as his arms around Felix. He snaked one hand up to rest it on top of his head, petting his hair comfortingly. “Listen,” he began, pulling away just enough so he could look at him clearly. “I’ll help you clean this mess up and then we’ll go look for Jisung together, okay?”

Felix stared into his eyes for a moment before he nodded slowly and stood himself up with the help of using Changbin’s shoulders as support. He reached his hand down to offer the same help up. “Alright. Let’s get this done and go look for him.” There was a slight smile resting on his face to which Changbin happily returned as he accepted his hand.

Together the two of them worked diligently in restoring the previous state of the dorm. What was deranged in the matter of what was probably less than ten minutes was fixed in double that. In the end, Felix was satisfied with their work.

  
  


**Felix**

@fabulix

Now that that’s fixed, onto the more important task

  
  


Far away from the dorms and class buildings lay Jisung underneath a tree. It was in a small grass area close to the sports fields. Since classes had been in session, there weren’t many people at the fields to hear Jisung curse himself and all that he was. And even if there were any people around, they would be too busy to even notice.

After getting much of his anger out, Jisung had calmed down enough to let himself fall asleep with a root serving as his pillow. Despite being underneath the shade of the tree towering above him, he kept a bent arm overtop his eyes to block out excess sunlight. A peaceful expression rested on his face, matching the slow movements of his chest rising and falling with each slow breath he took. He stayed that way until a light nudge to his side woke him up from his slumber.

Jisung’s eyes fluttered open to see what it was provoking him awake. His arm moved slightly from his eyes, long lashes blinking slowly from behind his arm. The sunlight was harsh against his eyes in comparison to the previous darkness from his eyelids. His eyes had yet to adjust.

“Are you dead?”

_ Seungmin? _ The sound of the voice was recognized just before he could make out the form that belonged to his friend. He jolted awake when he noticed the metal bat in his hand, hitting his head hard against the tree in the process.

“Ow shit- hey wait,” Jisung rubbed the back of his head with a hand. “What are you doing with that bat?”

Apparently he had this idea that Seungmin had tracked him down and was here to beat him for what he did back in his dorm. He didn’t know  _ why _ he would do that, but then again his brain did not work properly when he first woke up. Especially not after hitting it against the trunk of a thick tree.

Seungmin glanced back to the baseball bat that he had resting casually on his shoulder. Figuring that’s what was freaking Jisung out, he slowly lowered it down and set it up against a free side of the trunk. “Calm down, I’m not here to beat you. I was just over there playing.”

Now that Jisung took a second to get a closer look, Seungmin’s clothes were definitely a little dusty. He let himself believe his story and relax a little bit.

Seungmin crouched down and without thinking, held the fingers on Jisung’s right hand to look at his knuckles. They were bruised a light shade of purple with the middle knuckling being cut just enough for blood to have dried up in it. The rest of his knuckles weren’t open but still sported red scratches all over them. It looked painful to say the least, and Jisung only verified that with the way he winced when his hand was moved.

“Who did you punch?”

“Who?” Jisung echoed, scoffing shortly after as he let his gaze wander off to somewhere across the field. “I wanted to punch myself but had to settle for this poor tree…”

Seungmin’s brow furrowed at that, not understanding. Obviously he hadn’t heard what had happened with the way he was studying Jisung.

Sighing, Jisung brushed his fingers through the front of his hair, scratching the top of his head. “So this is a short story of how I, Han Jisung, am an absolute idiot and the reason that I hate myself,” he stated before he proceeded to tell the events of him losing his notebook and why it’s so important to him.

  
  


**Seungmin**

@songmin

Wait this is actually kind of sad

**Hyunjin** @hwangjin

What? Who’s making you sad?

  
  


After explaining the details fully to Seungmin, Jisung rested the back of his head gently against the tree as he looked up and through the leaves above him. The way they danced in the wind calmed him and reminded him of something else. Someone else. His eyes closed as he listened to the whispered rustling sound they made.

“It’s not even just about that assignment that’s due,” Jisung started again, slower and more faint this time. “I can just redo that. But, I wrote everything down in that notebook. All of my feelings are in there. Losing it makes me feel like I’ve lost a part of me. Not that I mean to sound sappy or anything…”

“No, I get it,” Seungmin intervened. “I see why you got so worked up with losing something like that. Especially if someone found it and decided to go through it.”

Jisung couldn’t help but to let out a defeated laugh. “Han Jisung, the hopeless poet… God I hate myself so much right now.” He pressed his hands back against his face, rubbing it harshly. What could he do, though? He had looked in the only places that he knew had a chance of it being at.

Seungmin gave him a sad look. “Hey, don't hate yourself. You’ve beat yourself up enough; literally and figuratively. Things like this happen sometimes.” His shoulders shrugged with his sigh. “I wish I could help you, but all I can really do is listen.”

He really did feel awful for his friend’s bad luck. Not only was the assignment he had been working on now gone, but he was sure that he had a lot of deep thoughts stored away in the book. Wherever it was, he just hoped that it could eventually be found and brought back.

Finally he got to his feet. With his anger replaced with depression, he could finally go back to his dorm with a sound mind that he wouldn’t destroy anything else. Sooner or later he was going to have to face Felix and his consequences for what he did. Too scared to even check his phone, he looked back to Seungmin.

“Thanks for being understanding. It means a lot to me that you listened to me. I’m not sure how it’s going to go with Felix, but hopefully I’ll make it out alive.”

“I don’t know… Felix seems like a pretty easy going person. Plus you’ve known each other for a long time. But,” He said, getting up as well to put a hand on his shoulder in support. “Let me know if I can do anything to help.”

  
  


**Seungmin**

@songmin

Hopefully things work out easily

**Hyunjin** @hwangjin

What things? You’ve been gone for hours

**Seungmin** @songmin

@hwangjin I’m coming back now, just wait a minute 😩

  
  


Hesitating, Jisung stood in front of the door to his room as if it were going to open on its own. Once he would open the door, he knew he would find Felix waiting inside for him to come back. Would he be angry? Would he be worried? It was hard to predict with the current situation. Slowly he lifted a hand to the door handle and turned it open, stepping inside. His vision was focused on the floor as he went in, not wanting to be reminded of the mess he had made.

“Jisung.”

Felix’s voice. He couldn’t go wrong with how low it was. It wasn’t in that of an angry tone, but rather one of expectance laced with concern. He must have been waiting for a long time now. Reluctantly, Jisung raised his eyes to meet him. In the process he found the dorm to be back to its original state. This fact alone made Jisung feel suddenly weak. He felt so guilty.

“Lix… I…”

Immediately after the words left his mouth, his knees gave way and sent him kneeling on the floor. He covered his face with his hands, not wanting to be seen like this. He wanted to disappear.

“Jisung!” Apprehensively Felix ran over and held him in his arms. “Jisung, what’s wrong? What happened? Tell me.”

“I fucked up, Lix. I’m sorry. I was careless and I was stupid,” Jisung cried in a strained voice. “Somehow I lost my writing notebook. It might sound silly, but it means a lot to me and I really wanted to find it. I’m sorry for making such a big mess, I really am. I was just angry and couldn’t control myself. I was going to clean it up once I calmed down,” he swore with the utmost sincerity in his crestfallen eyes.

Felix hugged him even harder, though being careful not to hurt him. Now he understood completely. “Oh my god, that’s what happened? Jisung, it’s not silly. Not at all. I know more than anyone just how important that book is to you. And don’t worry about the mess, it’s gone now. You really looked everywhere, didn’t you?”

Jisung nodded, stifling a sniffle in Felix’s chest. It felt nice knowing that Felix wasn’t scolding him for what he did and was instead trying his best to empathize. It’s what he needed more than being told of his wrongdoings. Though he knew he shouldn’t just get a free pass for the damage he caused.

“I’m sorry, Sungie… I really don’t know what to say. I was so worried about you and what had happened. I tried to find you earlier with hyung. Of all things I didn’t think this was it. I’m so sorry.”

It was true, Felix really didn’t have a clue as to what to say to make him feel better. Buying him a new notebook wouldn’t fix anything for it wouldn’t have all of the thoughtful words and songs that Jisung poured his heart and soul into. He could only imagine how he must be feeling right now. The only bright side to this was that now he knew they at least did not get robbed.

Jisung moved back from Felix, rubbing at his face with the palms of his hands. In the process Felix also noticed the state of his right hand, snatching it up gently to look it over.

“What did you do? This looks like it hurt. Here, come here,” he stood Jisung up to run him to the sink.

Willingly he let the boy rub away at the blood that had dried on the bump of his knuckle. The cut did sting when he was cleaning it, but nonetheless he didn’t put up any fight. It might get infected if he had left it alone.

“You should take care of your writing hand, Jisung,” Felix told him in a soft yet stern voice. Gently he patted his hand dry with a hand towel before securely wrapping a bandage around his hand. Jisung wouldn’t be able to freely bend his hand, but at least he could still move his fingers.

“It doesn’t matter. It still writes just fine.”

  
  


**Jisung**

@hansome

At least things can’t get worse from here 😞✊

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, all~ Thank you so much as always for reading. Coming up soon I have finals for college and I really need to get to work and making sure everything is turned in for my classes. I still hope to have the next chapter up a week from now, but if not, don’t worry it will be here soon ✌︎('ω')


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello again~ Thank you for your patience, I have finally finished my school work so I can focus on this story more. I see that I’m almost at 2k hits, I’m in shock! Thank you for all of the support this far, I didn’t think that I would get all of this
> 
> Please continue to read and support my story ❤︎

* * *

Jisung’s mood improved the slightest bit overnight. A good night’s sleep was far from what he received, but what he got was enough to calm his nerves ever so slightly. With the way Felix was cautiously stepping around him, he guessed his physical appearance wasn’t one to hide how he really felt.

“Morning, Sungie,” Felix greeted gently as he watched him come out of the bedroom and into the living room.

His hair was a mess, his clothes were disheveled, and he had a light shade of gray under his eyes.

“Morning,” Jisung resounded with the least amount of effort possible.

Without another word he went into the bathroom to try and make himself look halfway presentable before they went to class.

  
  


**Felix**

@fabulix

This may take awhile 😔

  
  


About ten minutes had passed before Jisung emerged from behind the door. His faded hair was neatly brushed into place and his clothes appeared like they had just come off of a hanger. Overall one wouldn’t be able to see anything wrong with him from the surface. He did good covering up his sadness this time around.

“Sorry. I took a bit longer than I intended to,” Jisung apologized, rubbing the back of his neck. “We might be late at this point. You should have gone ahead of me.”

Shaking his head, Felix grabbed Jisung’s bag and placed a strap of it onto the other’s shoulder. “We have class together today, I’m not leaving you behind even if we are late.”

Jisung felt himself smile a bit at the gesture. He didn’t know what he did to get so lucky with having a friend like Felix. It might be the only luck he had right about now.

The two of them walked into class, making it on time with a few minutes to spare. Jisung settled down quietly in his usual spot at the end of their table. When he felt eyes staring into his head he sighed, “I’m fine, guys.”

Neither of the two looked like they wanted to believe him. Seungmin’s mouth pressed into a thin line, debating whether or not to call him out on his blatant lie. Instead he asked, “did you redo your assignment?”

“Not yet,” Jisung shook his head. “Don’t worry about it. I’m going to do that after classes today and get it turned in. I’ll be fine.” It didn’t sound like he was looking forward to it or even that he would in fact be fine, but at least he didn’t seem like he was just going to say screw it and not finish it. His friends left him alone at that.

The class drug by rather slowly for Jisung, not that he was even paying attention to anything to begin with. His brain was set to wake back up once he noticed everyone packing up to leave. In the middle of trying to leave, Felix stopped him by the elbow.

“Hey, I’ll be waiting for you to get back tonight, okay?”

There went Felix again, going out of his way to be there as a supportive friend for him. Jisung knew what he meant and he wouldn’t have it. There would be no point in waiting up for him. He didn’t believe he needed it.

“Lix, I know you had plans tonight,” he reminded. “So follow through with it. I don’t need to be babysat.”

For whatever reason, Felix looked guilty. Like he shouldn’t have made plans prior to all of this happening. It wasn’t like he knew this sort of thing would happen. “It’s not really babysitting…”

Jisung put his hands on the other’s shoulders, looking him into the eyes. “Go have fun tonight, okay? One of us should at least be able to enjoy ourselves.”

Calmly he took his hands back, fitted them into his pockets and walked towards his next class before Felix could rebuttal again.

  
  


**Binnie ❤︎**

( Are you sure you don’t just want to stay home? )

( It won’t hurt my feelings. You have priorities)

  
  


( I think Jisung might forcefully kick me out if I even tried 😐 )

( He probably just wants to be alone right now even though I feel like that won’t help him )

  
  


**Binnie** ❤︎

( You’re not always going to be able to help him. Sometimes people need to unwind themselves )

  
  


( I know you’re right 🙁 )

  
  


**Binnie** ❤︎

( I know I’m right too 🤓 )

  
  


( You’re talented like that )

( I’ll see you tonight then )

  
  
  


Jisung wouldn’t have forgiven himself if he cost Felix a night to relax and enjoy himself. Besides, him and Changbin just got together so who was he for already being the reason for them to cancel their plans? He just wanted to have a quiet night and refinish his assignment.

Once his classes were done for the day, he headed straight to performance building so he could cozy up in his little studio for the night and get to work. This time he would save it to the computer so there was no chance of losing it again.

He counted the steps he took down the stairwell as he made his way into the basement floor. The floor was empty save a few people in the hallway, casually talking amongst the others or minding their own business. As the dance rooms came in sight, Jisung started to wonder if Minho would be there. After all of the time that passed, he would have to be back at school by now.

An almost invisible smile came to his face at just the thought of him being back and doing as he usually did. Ideas of telling him how impressive he was during the group’s comeback and performance danced around in his head. He wanted to tell him somehow. To him, it wasn’t even an excuse to want to see him.

Sneakily Jisung padded alongside the long wall until he got to Minho’s designated room. Delicate fingers held onto the part where the window met the coated brick of the wall as he peeked through the glass. What was inside only made him wish he hadn’t even bothered.

  
  


**Jisung**

@hansome

Oh...

  
  


Minho was back. Oh yes he was back. Originally, that would have been a bandage to his heart, but it turned out that it was only salt to his wound. Jisung’s hands slid slowly down the wall until they fell dead at his side.

Inside of the room were only two people. Minho; of course, and someone who he couldn’t see the face of, but the light magenta hair resembled that of the girl he had seen with Minho in class before when he went to apologize. With the only angle Jisung had, he could clearly see the boy’s back turned towards him, body blocking much of the girl from view. He didn’t have to see his face, he knew well enough of what Minho’s body structure and hair looked like to know full and well that it was Minho.

One hand was pressed just beside her head on the wall he had her backed against. Their faces were so so close to each other, causing a pit feeling to start in Jisung’s stomach. When he said how he wanted to see him, this wasn’t what he had meant. This wasn’t at all what he meant. And apparently, someone else must have been wishing the same thing. That person must have wished harder than Jisung had.

His only wish now was that he wished he hadn’t bothered. No longer looking in their direction, Jisung took off running towards his studio room. Rattling against the doorframe, the door practically slammed shut behind him as he slid down its surface. He didn’t bother turning on the lights. In this time, the darkness that engulfed the studio room was the only bit of comfort to the heartbroken boy.

“Are you  _ fucking  _ kidding me…” Jisung laughed miserably, running fingers through his hair, the wrapping of his bandaged hand slightly getting caught in between his auburn strands. The sound of his laugh was dripping with hurt. “Fuck me… this is what is get. This is why I shouldn’t get my hopes up the second I see a chance or even look forward to things.”

Looking up at the dark ceiling in anguish he called out to no one in particular, “what did I do to deserve this…”

  
  


**Jisung**

@hansome

I shouldn’t have done that…

**Felix** @fabulix

??? Done what

**Jisung** @hansome

@fabulix Accidentally closed out of my file without saving, silly me

**Felix** @fabulix

Be careful! 🥺

  
  


Jisung turned his phone off without a second thought. There would be no worrying Felix tonight, he decided. He would keep this one to himself. No one needed to know. Later he would be sure to forget what even happened.

Eventually he stood up and made his way over to the computer, tapping his thumb down onto the space bar to wake up the screen. Despite what he was feeling, he still needed to rewrite his assignment and he needed to do it tonight.

The word document flashed a steady black line as it awaited for words and letters to be typed out onto it. The only issue was, Jisung was having a hard time remembering what he had even written the first time. Minho had been his muse for the words he had already, but the only thoughts in his head now were those of sad lyrics.

He wanted to hate that cocky bastard for this. For doing such a thing where he could see. In the end Jisung could only resort to hating himself. It wasn’t even done in a very public spot. The only way they could have been seen was if someone was looking into the closed room. And Jisung had been sorry enough to have been the one to do that.  _ Why couldn’t this have happened AFTER I finished this stupid ass thing?  _ Groaning, he lightly banged his forehead against the countertop. He already knew this would be a long night. Slowly but surely, he started finding words and phrases recollecting in his mind.

  
  


**Jisung**

@hansome

There. It’s done.

**Felix** @fabulix

I’m so proud of you 😩💕

  
  


Too much time had passed for Jisung to even begin to know what time it was. All he knew was that his assignment was done and emailed to his professor. It was time for him to call it a night. It was time to forget.

Stopping short of the door, he stared at the light switch. He already forgot that he didn’t have his notebook to turn the switch off with. An inaudible sigh escaped his lips as his fingers brushed against the switch, shutting the lights off before exiting the room. Very consciously he avoided as many dance rooms as possible, not wanting to have the image return to his mind. Taking the long way around, he used the opposite staircase up to the main floor.

Only once outside did Jisung start to guess at how late it was. It was completely dark save for the light poles. The moon and stars were high in the sky and he slowed down until he finally came to a stop so that he could look up and watch them twinkle. A tranquil feeling blanketed over him until a voice pulled him away.

“Hey.”

_ Damn, I should have stayed behind longer. _ A chill went through Jisung’s spine at the sound of the calm voice from behind him. How could something that he loved to hear cause him to feel so horrible? Despite fighting the urge to pretend not to hear it, he found himself turning until he met Minho.  _ Dear God please no. What the hell do I keep doing wrong to you? _

Before he could walk away, Minho had already made his way over to him, stopped just a few feet from him. His gaze was set on the bandages on his right hand.

“You okay?”

Jisung followed his stare until he realized what he meant. Swiftly he shoved his hands into the pockets of his jacket as if that would erase what Minho saw from his memory.

“Just fine.” Jisung said in a lower voice, eyes anywhere but on the boy. Why was Minho here? Shouldn’t he be with his girl right now? Why did he have to talk to him? Had he not suffered enough already? He figured the only way out was to send him away. “You must be tired from performing so much. Why don’t you get to sleep?” It wasn’t meant in a rude way, rather it was just a thoughtful suggestion.

“You knew about that?” For whatever reason it must have slipped his mind that the younger was friends with Felix and Hyunjin.

“Of course I knew,” Jisung laughed once in a more dry way than an amusing one. Flashbacks of him being so worried over why Minho was absent for so long pelted into his mind. The longing he felt just to know why he was gone and to see him again safe had eaten him up. But those feelings had been replaced by a void feeling inside of him when he found out his chance had gone.

For only a moment he watched Minho quietly. The older seemed to feel like something was off. It looked like he wanted to say something, but Jisung wasn’t about to give him the chance to ask any questions. He wouldn’t be able to keep his composure for that long.

“You worked really hard, I know. I see why you’re held so high up in your major and why so many people like you,” he paused once the last part was out, a smile on his face that he hoped didn’t show any of his sadness in it. Yes, he definitely understood why he was so highly favored. It would have been an absolute mystery after all as to why he was still single had he been.

Lee Minho. Top of his major, good-looking, calm personality, already working with such famous and successful people, pretty girlfriend, and a bright future guaranteed for him. To say the least, Jisung couldn’t help but to feel a little envious of him and awfully depressed because of him. At least the universe was working well in someone’s favor. If not his, he was glad that Minho got the luck. Not knowing how much longer he could keep himself together, he went straight for a farewell, not daring to stick around and see.

“Get some rest, hyung. Don’t overwork yourself. Goodnight.” With that he had already turned his back to him, hurrying away at a speed that wouldn’t make it look like he was running away but at the same time made it known that the conversation had ended.

His heart was aching inside of his chest. It felt like someone had taken ahold of it and squeezed it until it threatened to burst. Harshly he clawed at his chest, inviting red marks to appear on his skin even through the layer of clothing he had on. Everything was just going so very wrong for him. His notebook was gone along with his chances with Minho and their short conversation had not consoled him by any means.

He continued to walk for what seemed like eternity until he stopped at a local playground. The streetlamps around the enclosure were in need of replacing soon, giving a dull glow to everything around. It was the perfect area to stay for a while, he thought. Since it was so late at night, there was absolutely no one around. Only the twinkling stars and lightly glowing moon were his companions. For the time being he would have it no other way.

He settled hunched over on a swing, arms hugging the chains close to his body. Gently he moved himself back and forth but a few inches with his toes pressing against the mulch. He was in no mood to enjoy himself at a playground. He was in no mood to do anything except for wallow in his own sadness for a while. It wasn’t like it was going to help anything, but what else was there to do?

Felix was surely still going to be gone until morning. There was no point in going back to the dorm. Did he even need sleep? It didn’t seem like he was going to be able to get any of that even if he tried.

“Honestly… What did I even do to have all of this happen? And for it to be back to back like this? This is too cruel.”

Hair draped in front of his face as he hung his head down low in defeat. The swing had come to a stop as he no longer moved his feet against the ground to push it back and forth. Slowly he picked his head up with an uneasy sigh, tilting his body back in the swing until he could see the night sky again.

“Han Jisung, the damned hopeless poet,” he whispered to no one but himself. It was beginning to have a ring to it though it only came out sadder and sadder each time he tested it on his lips. There was a hint of a smile etched onto his face but it held no happiness to it whatsoever. The only thing he could feel at the time was a suffocating sadness inside of him. Not even the coldness of the night seemed to make itself known to the boy.

The sole red flannel that he wore shouldn’t have been enough to shield him from the lower temperatures. However he didn’t seem phased by the coldness of the metal swing as he moved off of it and began to walk again. There was no destination in particular, he just felt like he had to keep going to try and clear his mind.

It was only after another hour of mindlessly walking did Jisung finally begin to feel numb inside. He still hadn’t completely come to terms with everything, but he was settled enough to be able to return to campus.

Slowly he advanced all the way back to his room, not passing a single person during the entire trip. It really was late but he dared not to look at the time. It was probably around 4am at this point. His hand stopped above the light switch when he noticed the outline of Felix’s shoes by the front door. He didn’t know that he would be back tonight, having thought he would have stayed gone until morning.

Deciding against turning on any lights in fear of disturbing Felix, Jisung carefully tiptoed to their shared room. Once inside he could tell that the boy was already fast asleep without much light to depict anything. His soft snoring gave it all away. Pausing in the middle of the room, he looked to his bed then back to Felix.

He took one step then another and eventually made it all the way to the side of Felix’s bed. Extending his hand out, he gently shook Felix’s arm, coaxing him awake.

Felix twitched awake at the sudden touch, not knowing what was going on. The poor boy was still half asleep as he tried his best to see what it was.

“Shh… sorry,” Jisung apologized in a hushed voice. “Felix, can I sleep with you tonight?”

Tiredly he rubbed his eyes, no longer trying to adjust his eyes in the dark light after hearing Jisung’s familiar voice. “Jisung…? What’s wrong?” He was already sliding over to make room for the other to join him.

“Nothing,” he lied, gently lowering himself flatly onto Felix’s bed. Carefully he snuggled up into his friend, stealing the body heat radiating off of him.

“Shit, Jisung, you’re freezing,” Felix commented, feeling a bit more awake at the sudden icy touch of Jisung. “Where have you been all of this time?”

“Shh…” Jisung shushed, putting an arm over Felix’s waist. “No questions. Please go back to sleep.”

Felix’s side sunk with the breath he let out. He wasn’t sure if there was something he should be worried about, but he would let it pass until later. For now he just wanted to warm his friend up and go back to sleep. He brought a hand up to Jisung’s head, patting his hair softly. “Alright. Goodnight, Sungie.”

“Goodnight,” Jisung whispered back. He was grateful for this even if he had wished that Felix would have just enjoyed himself tonight. He couldn’t suppress the need for his support right now. If anything, being close to Felix like this as he slept was the thing that he needed the most right now. He didn’t dare to move away the entire night.


	13. Chapter 13

The ringing of Felix’s alarm sounded softly in the air come morning time. Its volume was muffled by the blanket but Felix sure enough still found himself waking up from it. Slowly he stirred awake, careful to not knock Jisung in the process of silencing his phone. He pulled his more free arm around himself to reach his phone and replace it back down beside him before he embraced the still sleeping boy in a warm hug.

Even throughout the entire night, Jisung had stayed right up against the curve of Felix’s body. Felix gently pet the other’s disheveled hair into place as he studied his resting face. He wasn’t sure exactly what it was that caused him to join him in bed rather than sleep on his own like he normally did. As far as he knew, he wasn’t a fan of being cramped up. The size of each of their beds were definitely not fit to comfortably fit two people their size.

“Jisung,” Felix called gently, his voice low.

Gradually the sleeping boy woke up, eyes still half-lidded as he looked at his friend. He closed his eyes once more, apparently not wanting to get up from the warmth that was around him. Even though he looked cute and small in this situation, Felix couldn’t let him stay like that. They had classes after all.

“We can’t stay like this forever,” Felix tried as he began to move. He was only stopped by a firm yet gentle hold on him. “We have classes to go to.”

Again Jisung refused to move from his spot. His expression was downcast and his voice was quiet. “I don’t want to go to classes today. I just want to stay here.”

A small sigh escaped Felix’s nose. Even though he felt bad for his friend and wanted to make him feel better, he couldn’t stay like this. At least not today when he had a quiz in his first class. Softly he planted a small kiss on the front of Jisung’s head before he pushed himself up into a sitting position.

“I can’t stay with you this morning, I have a quiz that I can’t miss. But I promise I’ll hurry back and we can talk, okay? If you really don’t feel up to it, I won’t push you to go to class. You can lay in my bed if you want,” he proposed.

Jisung took it upon himself to move Felix’s pillow under his head so he could get more comfortable. It was all Felix needed as an answer before he carefully crawled over him and fixed the blanket back over Jisung. He patted his arm gingerly and offered a smile to him.

“You’ll be here when I get back, right?” Felix questioned. He didn’t know whether he would disappear at some point before he came back or if he would actually stay in bed like he said.

“I’ll be here,” he assured quietly. He pulled the blanket over top of his head and held it down. “I’m not going anywhere, don’t worry.” There was no energy in his body for him to go anywhere. All he could accomplish was staying in place in the bed.

Putting trust into his words, Felix accepted that. Definitely he would hurry after his classes to come back to him. It pained him to see his friend so defeated like this. And for what exactly? He couldn’t be too sure. He didn’t want to think that anything else caused him to be more upset than losing his book, but with the way things seemed, he couldn’t help but to think of something else.

“I’ll head out now. I promise I’ll be back quickly so just rest until then,” Felix reassured before letting himself exit the room, gently shutting the door behind him.

  
  


**Felix**

@fabulix

😞 

**Changbin** @spearb

🙁

  
  


It was tough for Felix to concentrate. Scratching his temple with his pencil, he stared intensely at the paper in front of him. With not enough sleep and his mind being so preoccupied with Jisung at the moment, everything else was blurred. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, channeling all of the information of the quiz back to him. Once he finished it he could leave the class and have all of the time he wanted to think. At least until his next class, that was.

Surely enough he was able to push through and finish before a good bit of his classmates. Quickly he shoved his pencil into his bag without bothering to zip it all of the way and made his way to the back of the class and through the door. He was careful not to make too much noise in fear of disturbing the rest of the people still quizzing.

Once outside he let himself let out a loud sigh of relief. He checked his phone. Still 45 minutes until his next class. There was plenty of time for him to start pondering about ways to help his friend.

“Felix.”

Felix turned towards the small sound of someone calling his voice until his eyes fell on a tiny-looking Changbin. His dark purple hoodie was definitely a size too big for him with the way the sleeves bunched up and nearly entirely covered his hands where he was holding a to-go coffee cup.

  
  


**Felix**

@fabulix

🥰

  
  


The two of them walked together outside the building to one of the benches in a grass area. It was still beside the building but also out of the way enough from people coming and going. Changbin rubbed his thumbs against the warm surface of the cup in his hands, suddenly remembering it.

“O-oh, right,” he started, transferring the cup from his hands to Felix’s. “That’s for you.”

“Me?” Felix repeated, smelling the hole in the lid. It was most definitely coffee and he didn’t think twice about drinking it.

“I figured you might have been up late either studying for your quiz or something with Jisung; how is he by the way?”

Felix looked like he was about to cry and Changbin froze at that, wondering what was wrong. Did he not like the coffee? He was drinking it, though. Did it burn him? Was it something about Jisung? Should he have not asked?

“W-what is it?”

Felix threw his arms around the older, squishing him into a tight hug and rocking him side to side. “That’s so sweet and thoughtful! _You’re so cute, Binnie, I love it,”_ he added in English without even meaning to.

Lucky for Changbin; if he wanted to consider it that, he knew that much vocabulary to understand what he had said. He kept his arms around the other for a moment so he could hide his sheepish smile and reddened ears.

“Oh wait,” Felix pulled away to look at him before adding with a toothy grin, “you’re a genius!”

Changbin blinked at the sudden and perhaps random compliment. Of course he was a genius. He already knew that. Though it wasn’t so bad getting it voiced every once in a while. He framed his face in the space in between his thumb and pointer finger, looking a bit egotistical as he did so. “Felix, are you just now finding that out? I am a man of much intelligence.”

“No, but this was definitely something that could help me. Well, help me help Jisung,” he corrected slowly, trying his best to order his words properly. “Jisung loves Americanos. If I bring him one back after my classes, he might feel a little better.”

“So he’s not feeling too good right now?”

Shoulders falling slightly, Felix shook his head. “His mood got a lot worse. I don’t know what he did, but he came back super late, I couldn’t even tell you what time it was. But I know he had been outside for a long time because he couldn’t have gotten that cold from just walking to our dorm from where he does his work.”

Felix gently rested his head on the other’s shoulder, trying to think of just what it was that was going on with his friend.

“You know, Felix. You don’t have to try and fix it all yourself. I know it’s in you to always want to try and help people, but I’m here too. You might have forgotten that I’m also his friend. I’m also going to try and help. So don’t worry about it so much, okay?”

Ever so slightly did Felix tilt his head to look up at him. An appreciative smile spread slightly across his face. “Thanks, Binnie. I’ll rely on you more.”

  
  


**Felix**

@fabulix

We’re all in this together 🙌

**Hyunjin** @hwangjin

Oh, I know this song!

**Seungmin** @songmin

@hwangjin I don’t think that’s what this is about

  
  


During the time that Jisung had been left alone, all he could do was think. Sleeping didn’t come easily at all to him. He had tossed and turned but found himself unable to fall into slumber. In the end he resorted to staring at the ceiling with thoughts of the night prior flooding through his mind.

When he couldn’t take it anymore, he removed himself from Felix’s bed and took up his guitar that sat in the corner of his side of the room. If anything, at least he could use his melancholy feelings to strum out some new melodies. When in doubt, music was his go-to therapy.

He wasn’t able to write down the new melody but his body made note of each chord played out, the vibrations flowing throughout Jisung’s body. It was going well for him. A new song was definitely coming together.

Too busy playing his heart out, he hadn’t noticed Felix enter the room. The boy had been patient and polite enough to stay off to the side out of his sight until Jisung’s right hand stopped strumming and rested just against the base of his guitar.

“That sounded beautiful, Jisung,” Felix clapped a hand softly against the cup of iced Americano in his hand.

Jisung looked up suddenly, not having heard him come in. A small wave of embarrassment came over him. “How long have you been standing there?”

“Mm…” Humming in thought, Felix walked over to hand him the drink. “Just a minute or two? But for enough time to know that what you played was good. Take this as a reward for your good work.”

Jisung’s eyes grew ever so slightly when he saw his favorite drink being offered to him. Without a second thought he accepted to drink sucked it nearly halfway down, already starting to feel better inside. How could he possibly not brighten up at the lengths that Felix goes to to try and lift him up? He was convinced that his friend was secretly an actual angel and he considered himself lucky to snag his as a friend.

“Thank you, Lix. I really appreciate it,” Jisung almost whispered with how quiet his voice was.

“Don’t mention it.” Felix took the spot beside him on the couch. His facial expressions said it all. He was worried. Very worried. But he had a look of determination on his face. Jisung already knew his next line.

“Listen, Felix,” he started slowly, looking down at his guitar that rested in his lap. “I really don’t want you to have to worry about me. I know my actions haven’t been very positive, but I just need a little time.”

“What exactly is bothering you?”

Jisung drank a little bit more of the iced americano before setting it down on the table in front of the couch. He decided that he wouldn’t mention anything about seeing Minho all over a girl and having to contemplate everything. While on his walk last night, he told himself that things like this just happen. That he didn’t have any right to the dancer and it wasn’t even like he had known him for all that long. Even though it hurt him inside to tell himself these things, he knew he would have to face the facts eventually or else he could never move on.

“I’m just… a little down is all,” he claimed. Telling lies wasn’t his forté but he could definitely stretch truths and omit information. He told himself it was just so he wouldn’t burden his friend anymore than he already had. “I don’t feel right. I haven’t since I lost that stupid book.” It wasn’t a lie at all. He really hadn’t been right since the morning he found it missing. Did his situation get worse after that? Yes, but he wouldn’t let himself give up that information.

Felix felt his frown deepen. He moved closer so that he could reach out and hold Jisung’s bandaged hand in his. He smoothed the bandage down with his thumbs, feeling out the ridges of Jisung’s knuckles. “I wish I knew how to help you. I wish I knew where your book was right now.”

“Honestly, Felix, you’ve helped me a lot. More than you probably even realize it. I know you probably don’t believe me when I say it, but just because you’re my friend that cares about me, that helps me a lot. I know I have someone that I can lean on when I need it.”

He was smiling at this point. It wasn’t a bright smile, but it was one that showed the truth behind the words he spoke. For Felix he would try to become better. An acting career would be in the works for Jisung so he wouldn’t have to be worried about, but he would do his best to pretend until he didn’t have to.

Slowly Felix leaned closer to him, a look of hope in his eyes. “Will you come eat with me? I’ll buy and it will be just the two of us. I know you haven’t had anything for a while now so you must be hungry.”

The way Felix was anticipating an answer with bright eyes reminded Jisung of a child. How was he supposed to say no to that face? Especially with the way he hadn’t eaten since the day before, he couldn’t turn down the invitation.

“Only if you’re buying.”

A wide grin spread across Felix’s face. He jumped up, pulling Jisung with him excitedly. He wasn’t about to let him even think about changing his mind.

“Yes! Everything is on me! Whatever you want, you can get it. Let’s go,” Felix ushered Jisung out of the door and to the outside world.

  
  


**Felix**

@fabulix

Now we’re getting somewhere 😋

  
  


With a night of eating a lot of good food purchased all by Felix and spending the rest of the time back at their dorm playing video games, Jisung was able to sleep soundly on the pallet that he had made with Felix in the living room area. Felix had watched as the other fell asleep before him, feeling content with himself as he noticed the relaxed expression on Jisung’s sleeping face. _Maybe all that was needed was an iced americano and some food after all_.

  
  


**Felix**

@fabulix

Goodnight to all and to all a goodnight 😴

  
  



	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> a/n: You might have already figured out by now, but every time someone is speaking with the words written in italics, it means they are speaking in English. 
> 
> Enjoy (´・ω・)

* * *

The next morning Felix woke up first, his alarm not having gone off yet. It would still be another 20 minutes before it would so he went ahead and silenced it to prevent it from waking Jisung up. Carefully he slid out from beside the sleeping boy and moved to their bedroom to start making himself look presentable.

After a few minutes, he re-emerged from the room and gave Jisung one last look. Once he was sure that he was dead to the world, he got his shoes on and exited their dorm, cushioning the door while closing it so it wouldn’t be so loud.

He made his way to the dining hall to get himself and Jisung some breakfast to eat back in their dorm, only stopping short when he noticed Chan alone at a table. “ _Good morning, Chan hyung!”_

Chan, who had been invested in something on his laptop, looked up when he heard his name being called. “ _Oh, Felix! What’s going on?_ ”

Felix shrugged slightly and gestured to where the food was. “ _I woke up early so I thought I’d bring Jisung back some breakfast._ ” He said then looked around a little bit. “ _Are you here by yourself?”_

Chan hummed, a small grin on his face. “ _If you mean_ where’s Changbin _, then he went home. He said he wasn’t feeling good. But you didn’t hear it from me,”_ he pointed at Felix for emphasis.

“WHAT,” Felix bursted out perhaps a little too loudly with the way a few people nearby were staring at him. “S-sorry…” he bowed slightly to them before looking back at Chan with a saddened frown. “ _He didn’t tell me that.”_

_“He didn’t tell me either,”_ Chan smiled innocently.

Felix huffed with crossed arms. _How could he not tell me he wasn’t feeling good? “I’m going to get him for that…”_ He shook his head, forgetting about it for the time being. “ _Well, anyways. I’ll see you around. I’ll get back to Jisung before he wakes up.”_ He waved in farewell before going to order the food.

  
  


**Felix**

@fabulix

Seo Changbin.

**Changbin** @spearb

Nope. Don’t know them

**Felix** @fabulix

@spearb I’ll deal with you later 

  
  


**Changbin**

@spearb

I knew Chan would be the death of me

**Chan** @cbang

I breathed??

  
  


Felix gently opened the door, peeking inside before completely entering. Jisung was still passed out on his side, hugging his pillow in his arms instead of having his head on it. Felix could help but let out a small giggle at that. Putting the food down on the table, Felix walked to where Jisung laid and crouched down beside him to shake him awake.

“Sungie… wake up. I got food.”

Jisung’s breath hitched as he woke up. Rubbing his eyes tiredly he looked to Felix. “Hm..?”

“Food. I got it,” he repeated, going back to the table to sort through whose was whose.

Rolling over into his stomach, Jisung pushed himself up into a kneeling position until he could manage to stand himself up. “When did you get food? I didn’t hear any alarm go off.” His voice was groggy as he spoke, checking out what was on the table.

“That’s because I didn’t want to wake you,” Felix pointed a finger in the air. “This way you would have been able to sleep in for a little longer and-“

Cutting off his sentence, Jisung draped his arms around him in an engulfing hug. His chin laid on Felix’s shoulder comfortably. “I love you so much, Lix,” he said in a touched voice. “Thanks for always being such an angel.”

He would never be able to express how much the day-younger boy has done for him. In all of his low times, Felix had always been there doing his best to make him smile again. Eventually Jisung would be able to pay him back one day.

“I love you too, Sungie. Don’t you ever forget that,” Felix almost whispered through a soft smile, squeezing Jisung’s body slightly before letting go. “Now, let’s eat and walk to class together.”

  
  


**Jisung**

@hansome

Daily I love Felix post

**Jeongin** @notyouroppa

Since when do you post those daily?

**Jisung** @hansome

I love Felix post*

**Jeongin** @notyouroppa

Why don’t I get one 😢

  
  


**Jisung**

@hansome

I love Felix and Jeongin post**

**Jeongin** @notyouroppa

🥰

**Jisung** @hansome

@notyouroppa You big baby

**Jeongin** @notyouroppa

Am baby 👶

  
  


“Unless you have something you want to do, I’m going to go break into Changbin hyung’s house after classes and teach him how he shouldn’t not tell me when he’s sick,” Felix said as he walked side by side down the hall with Jisung.

Even though he knew it wasn’t what Felix meant, Jisung pictured him actually going to Changbin’s house and forcing himself in. Maybe even karate-kicking the older out of frustration and love. A laugh escaped him from the thought of it, surprising Felix in the process. It had been a few days since the last time he felt himself actually laughing from something humorous. “I really doubt that he wouldn’t just unlock the door for you and let you in. You taking care of him? Don’t let him fool you, that’s definitely what he wants,” he nudged Felix’s side in a mischievous manner.

Felix put a hand on his cheek, feeling heat rise in response to Jisung’s remark. “Don’t start imagining things that aren’t what I mean,” he muttered as he looked away in embarrassment. “Oh,” he stopped in his tracks and started waving an arm at someone off to the side of them. “Hey hyung!”

Jisung paused to fix his gaze on the direction that Felix was waving in. He bobbed his head slightly until he figured out exactly who it was. His lips pursed into a thin line as he watched Minho make his way over to them. _Damn it, Felix…_ With his hands clutched on the strap of his bag for support, he decided to stay in place as he wouldn’t be able to discreetly remove himself from the situation.

“I didn’t know you had classes over here on these days,” Felix commented. He had never seen him in this specific building at this time before.

Minho shook his head slightly. “No, that’s not it. I was just here looking for someone before my class starts.”

Jisung bit the inside of his cheek at that. He already had a good feeling about who he was looking for so he wouldn’t ask any questions. It was time to make an excuse to get out of there politely. He pulled out his phone to check the time. There was still plenty of time to make it to his class at the location he was in while still being able to talk for a moment, but he wasn’t about to let that be known.

“Hey, I’m going to head first to class before I’m late.” He was already backing up, careful not to knock into anyone in the process. “I’ll see you later, Felix. Bye, hyung,” he waved before hurrying down another hallway to get out of sight faster.

  
  


**Jisung**

@hansome

Hopefully that was discrete enough

**Jeongin** @notyouroppa

Hyung, did you try to fart in public without being caught?

**Jisung** @hansome

@notyouroppa That’s crazy how you heard it from all the way over there

  
  


**Jeongin**

@notyouroppa

🤢

  
  


**Jeongin**

@notyouroppa

I worry about him sometimes

  
  


Jisung found himself later entering the school’s library with the way that Seungmin had shown him before. Besides a slight mishap on which direction the building was in relation to him, he figured it out eventually.

Going past the checkout counter, he made a beeline for the furthest set of computers. They were out of the way and backing against a row of bookshelves lining away from them. It was a good spot for him to sit in the quietness and focus on something other than his troubles for once.

He was only a quarter way done with his homework when someone appeared over his shoulder and asked right by his ear.

“ _Whatcha doing?_ ”

The voice was too silky to belong to Felix and it didn’t carry any sort of Aussie accent to be Chan either. Caught by surprise, Jisung fell out of his chair and looked up at the person behind the sweet-sounding voice.

“Shit, Seungmin, you really scared me,” Jisung let out through an exasperated sigh.

Completely satisfied with himself and perhaps even a tiny bit sorry, Seungmin was giggling with a toothy smile matched by his crescent shaped eyes. He extended a hand to help Jisung back up.

“Sorry, Jisung. It was too easy,” he apologized half-heartedly. “But it’s fancy seeing you here. I thought you didn’t even know where the library was.”

Jisung accepted his hand and apology, setting himself back into his seat and swiveling to the point that Seungmin could see his computer screen. “I’m only here to finish my work on time for once,” he explained simply then added with his eyes growing ever so slightly, “oh yeah, I made an A on the paper you helped me with. I really owe you for that one.”

“Did you really,” Seungmin beamed. “Good for you. I’m glad I could be of some assistance.”

Looking away, Jisung couldn’t help but to let out a beat of a laugh. Despite his own writing skills, Seungmin’s notes and brain got him quicker to an A than he would have just by himself. Not to mention that he managed to get a perfect hundred with his help and on something weighed a bit on the higher side grade-wise at that.

“You know,” Seungmin started as he was scanning the contents of Jisung’s computer screen, “I could help you with this too if you wanted. I don’t have anything else to do. I was only in here to kill time.”

“Really?” Jisung’s face was shining at the generosity. He hadn’t meant to ask for any help with his homework, he felt like he shouldn’t get any. “I mean… you really don’t have to. It’s not that hard to do.”

“Then it won’t take that long for both of us to finish,” Seungmin responded with a smile. He was already pulling a chair up to sit himself to the side of the computer.

Sliding his own chair over, Jisung made room for the both of them to be able to see the screen. His homework was simple, really. It was all multiple choice questions that he could search online for if he got stuck. The tedious part about it was how many questions there were.

  
  


**Jisung**

@hansome

It’s a bit hard to work when you can actually hear someone crying in the bookshelves behind you

**Jeongin** @notyouroppa

University is really that hard??

  
  


**Seungmin**

@songmin

Wait a second…

  
  


“How did I know it was you?”

With crossed arms, Seungmin stood just out to the side of the bookshelves, sighing down at the sniffling boy.

Backed against a bookshelf, Hyunjin was curled up with a manga book in hand, hurriedly wiping away the tear that had escaped his eye as if he hadn’t been doing anything. As subtly as he could, he raised the book to his face so he could hide a bit better.

“Knew it was me doing what,” he asked in a plain voice.

“We could hear you crying on the other side of the shelf. Who are you fooling?”

“Oh Hyunjin,” Jisung said as he finally peeked around to see who it was. “That was you? I guess Seungmin did mention that you’ve been kicked out of here for this.”

Hyunjin’s hands flew down with the book to give Seungmin a stern, yet hurt, expression. “You told him about that?!” He was whispering, not wanting other people to overhear. If not before, he definitely felt a bit embarrassed at this point.

“It… might have come up in conversation,” Seungmin rubbed the back of his head, glancing off to the side. He looked back at him with a grin, “well anyways, now you know that he knows. Everything’s good.”

“Do you want to come sit with us? We can go eat later,” Jisung offered.

Hyunjin sighed in defeat. Clearly he wasn’t actually mad, rather, just being dramatic for effect. “Sure.”

  
  


**Hyunjin**

@hwangjin

Is this what betrayal feels like

**Seungmin** @songmin

You know I still love you

  
  


“Felix won’t be around tonight so I figured I might as well go ahead and eat now,” Jisung said as he sat at a local restaurant with the other two. Classes were done for the week for them so they could comfortably lounge around without worrying about making it to class on time.

“Let me guess,” Hyunjin started, flicking his chopsticks up as he did so. “He’s going to see dark hyung.”

“Dark-“ Jisung stopped himself, realizing who he was referring to after he started processing it. In all honesty he only saw the dark thing as a front. “Was it that easy?”

Hyunjin smiled innocently before resuming eating. “I talked to Chan hyung earlier.”

“I think it’s cute,” Seungmin chimed in. “It radiates Felix energy.”

Jisung too found the situation to be very cute and straight up Felix’s alley. He was thrilled that Felix found someone that complimented him well. Felix was a caretaker and that was one of the reasons that Jisung appreciated him. Even though he kind of wished to be in a position like Changbin, he was happy enough that the two of them had something going good. Absentmindedly he ran fingers over the ridges of his bandaged knuckles.

“By the way,” Hyunjin said, looking at the bandage on Jisung’s hand. “I’ve been meaning to ask about that.”

Suddenly Seungmin knocked Hyunjin’s ankle with his foot, shooting him a sideways stare. It looked like he wanted to tell him to mind his business but Jisung didn’t seem to care.

“I uhm… I got a bit emotional and I was rash about it,” he said as his gaze was fixed downwards. “But it’s alright. I learned my lesson and Felix patched me up.” Although it was slight, a smile was still there.

“With the way it looked when I saw it, you’re probably going to have a scar or two,” Seungmin said, remembering the image in his mind with a frown.

Jisung fidget slightly in his place, sitting up a little bit straighter. “That’s okay. It’ll be a reminder for me to watch myself more carefully from now on.”

Hyunjin and Seungmin shared a look in between the two of them, mutually deciding to drop the subject for the time being. The three of them carried on with the rest of their dinner speaking of any other topics except for that one.

  
  


After finishing all of their food and paying the bill, they stood outside the restaurant. Hyunjin and Seungmin stood to one side with Jisung at the other to part their ways.

“We still have some things we need to do so we’ll see you around campus later on,” Seungmin explained before adding, “call us if you need anything. Since Felix will be out, anyways.”

Jisung held a hand up as a way of saying, ‘no worries.’ “I’ll keep that in mind. Have fun, I’ll see you later,” he waved before backing up and heading back towards the campus.

It wasn’t a very long walk back. To be fair, he enjoyed the scenery and the quietness of his walk with the sounds of passing cars as background noise. Traffic at this point had been dying down. Dinner time was reaching its end and people were beginning to disperse back to their homes.

* * *

The dorms came into view as Jisung made his way up the slight hill to reach them. He started thinking about what he should do with himself for the rest of the night as he didn’t have Felix to do anything with. He almost had a movie decided on when he heard a loud thud off to the side of him somewhere.

Stopping in his tracks to see just what it was, he saw someone sitting at the bottom of some steps, holding their ankle in their hands. He glanced around for a moment. It didn’t seem like anyone else had noticed the boy falling. There hadn’t been that many people around to begin with. Feeling bad for the person, he changed route towards them. It wasn’t until he was just a little bit closer that he realized who it was.

  
  


**Jisung**

@hansome

…

  
  


Unable to stop himself at this point, Jisung continued walking until he was crouched down beside the boy. “Hyung, are you okay?”

Minho looked up at him through his hair that fell in front of his face in the process of falling. His expression held that of a hint of pain mixed with embarrassment. He tried to get up himself but stopped the second there was any pressure on his ankle.

“Hey, hey, wait,” Jisung prompted as he tried to keep the other from trying again. “You’ll just hurt yourself more that way. What did you do?”

“My ankle gave out when I was walking down these steps. It wasn’t but a few of them that I fell down and I was lucky enough to land on my hands instead of anything else,” he sighed as he faced his palms up, showing Jisung how they got scratched up from the concrete.

A pit fell in Jisung’s stomach as he gently took one of Minho’s hands to look it over more. He couldn’t help but to note how soft they were. No wonder they got scratched up so easily. Gently be brushed off a small piece of debris from the crevasse of Minho’s hand. He couldn’t believe he was going to offer what came out of his month next.

“Where’s your dorm room? I’ll take you.”

The next thing he knew he was pulling Minho’s arm around his shoulder and hoisting him up as gently as he could with the help of holding his arm around the boy’s frame for extra support.

“I thought I would be fine,” Minho confesses as they made their way towards his dorm room. “I’ve made it a week already with my ankle acting up.”

“A week-“ Jisung blurted out in echo. “Hyung, don’t tell me you were performing with a hurt ankle the whole time.”

“Just the last day of it,” Minho assured as if that made the fact that he performed on a hurt ankle at all any better. “I couldn’t afford to sit out. Especially not on the last day.”

Jisung understood what he meant deep down. If he were in the same position, he wouldn’t have wanted to look bad in front of a prestigious group either. For the rest of the walk to Minho’s dorm room he didn’t press about the issue any further.

Minho stayed on a higher level floor above his own. It was no wonder that Jisung never saw him going to or from before. The layout of the dorm was very similar to the one Jisung stayed in. A few things were swapped in places and a major difference was in how bare the place looked despite it being fully furnished. It seemed like only one person lived there instead of the usual two.

Jisung set the dark haired boy on the couch so that he could prop his foot up on a pillow until he could get to it. “Do you have a first aid kit anywhere?” He asked, trying his best to stifle his nervousness of being alone in his dorm with him,

“It’s just in the bathroom in the left cabinet under the sink,” Minho answered after he decided he should probably just tell him instead of show him.

Without a second thought, Jisung left to retrieve the first aid kit. It wasn’t at all hard to find in the cabinet. There wasn’t much things in there to begin with. Everything was orderly and in places where they seemed to perfectly belong. Coming back, Jisung kneeled beside the couch and sat the kit down beside him. The clasps of the kit opened quietly and allowed Jisung to rummage through it for something to clean Minho’s hands with.

Jisung ripped open a small disinfecting towelette and took Minho’s hand by the wrist so that he could flip it over and carefully wipe away at his palm. He repeated the process for the other hand, pausing for a second when he heard a small wince escape from the older.

“Sorry…” He apologized, glancing up only for a second to meet Minho’s eyes. The way he was being watched made him feel even more anxious. He was doing his best to not mess up or apply too much pressure to hurt him. He crumbled up the wrapper of the towelette and dug two bandaids out from the kit. His fingers shook ever so slightly as he applied the bandaids over his hands, smoothing them down gently with his thumb.

“Your dorm is uhm,” Jisung started, hoping that if he changed his mind to something else he would stop feeling so nervous mending the older boy’s wounds. “It’s very clean everywhere.”

“It’s easy when I’m the only one living here,” Minho answered. “There’s no extra messes for me to clean up.”

So he did live alone. Jisung was about to ask how he managed that when Minho beat him to it.

“I shared this room with a senior last year. They never gave me a new roommate when they graduated so I got it all to myself.”

Jisung nodded slightly as he listened. He slid the first aid kit across the floor until it reached the other end of the couch. There he pulled out a medical wrap and softly aligned Minho’s ankle so that it was as straight as possible, causing the before mentioned to wince again.

“I don’t see how you did it, hyung. Maybe it’s because I’m not a dancer and don’t know how to endure this kind of pain, but I still think it’s amazing you fought through it all this time. Are you sure you don’t want to go to the hospital?”

“I think this should be enough if I stay off of it for a little while,” Minho said, shaking his head.

Absentmindedly, Jisung bit the corner of his lip. He couldn’t help but think how surreal this situation felt to him. He had just so happened to be passing by right when he heard Minho fall. The thought of having Minho’s girlfriend come and patch him up instead had crossed his mind but he had selfishly pushed the idea away as quickly as it had come. _But why hasn’t he mentioned anything about wanting her to come do it instead of me? It can’t be that she’s in class, those are done with for today._

He did feel selfish for enjoying the fact that he was the one helping instead of anyone else. He knew that he shouldn’t be enjoying this situation so much. It felt so wrong to him. Had it not been for this, he probably would not had any sort of chance to be as close as he was right now. They had differing majors so it wasn’t like they would have any of the same classes together, especially since they differed in years too. Jisung had never figured out a way to try and casually befriend him either. Ignoring the rest of his thoughts, he carefully wrapped Minho’s ankle snuggly to the point where he knew it would hold the position he had set it at.

“Does it still hurt a lot?”

Minho gave a small nod, seeming to not want to give away how much it actually hurt. “Just a bit.”

“I’ll get you some ice for it, just wait a second.”

Jisung pushed himself up to his feet and made his way around the wall to get to the small kitchen area. Reaching out towards the freezer door handle, his eyes caught something in his peripherals, causing him to freeze completely.

  
  


**Jisung**

@hansome

Why-

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Next chapter is set to post for the following Monday as planned ✌︎


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gooooood morning everyone. Or night, depending on which time of the day it is for you as you read this. Thank you as always for coming to read this and support me. I really can’t believe that I’m almost at 3k hits and 200 kudos ( ・∇・) People actually like my work? Thank you so much~ You guys really have no idea how much it means to me that there are people out there invested in my made up stories. It makes me feel like I’ve actually accomplished something in my life ｡ﾟ(ﾟ´ω`ﾟ)ﾟ｡
> 
> But enough about that, I know you guys are ready to see how the story progresses so I’ll stop rambling and get on to the show.
> 
> And there it was. Just to the side of the fridge on a silver stand sat the most delicious cheesecake Jisung had ever laid eyes on in his entire life. Who was Minho? He did not know. The only thing he knew at this moment was that he had to try some of that cheesecake.
> 
> I’m so sorry... Here’s the story for real this time.

His absence was starting to look suspicious as Jisung loitered in the kitchen, completely out of Minho’s view thanks to the wall that partially separated the rooms. Before Minho would fully wonder what it was exactly he was doing, Jisung took a deep breath and re-emerged from where he was hidden, taking an ice pack with him in hand.

Without even stooping back down, he lowered the ice pack to rest on and around Minho’s ankle so it could soothe all areas he was feeling pain in. He could only hope that the older didn’t notice the way that his hands shook as they moved or the way that he was completely avoiding direct eye contact.

He was stupid for thinking he could hide those facts from Minho’s keen observation skills. There was an intent gaze in Jisung’s direction. It felt heavy against him, crushing him to speak up. The change in his aura was too drastic for it to be missed, though Minho wasn’t at all sure about what it was for with the way he was looking at him. Minho opened his mouth to; what Jisung assumed, question him about what was wrong, but Jisung moved faster. He was always fast when it came to this sort of thing.

“Hyung.”

It was but a simple syllable but the way it was spoken made everything in the room seem frozen in time. Minho’s mouth closed as he waited for his next words. A beat of silence passed before Jisung shifted his weight beneath him. His head hung just low enough to where his light hair served as a curtain for his eyes. Without looking up, he reached a hand behind him and under his shirt, pulling something out that had been kept in place by the waistline of his pants.

Slowly he held up the object in front of him and asked in a low voice, “why do you have this?”

  
  


**Minho**

@meowho

That’s…

  
  


Minho couldn’t seem to formulate any response other than, “why do you ask?”

It didn’t seem like Minho understood the situation so Jisung was going to make sure to help him out a bit. “This,” he said, grip tightening around the hard surface in hand, “is mine. Now,  _ why _ do you have my notebook?” He asked again, this time looking right at him with hard eyes.

“That’s  _ yours _ ?”

It looked like Minho had seen a ghost. If he were being honest with himself, he would rather take a ghost than the Jisung that was standing in front of him.

“Then why was it in-“

“What?” Jisung blinked, staying in place. He was ready for this answer. His blood began to grow hotter by the second. “In what? Where was it?”

Minho swallowed before he could finish his sentence. “I-it was in Chan hyung’s room…”

“Chan-“ Jisung had to stop for a second. A look of disbelief came across his face as his mouth hung slightly agape. “Chan hyung  _ gave _ this to you?”

He wouldn’t let himself believe that. Why would Chan give his notebook to Minho? Did  _ he  _ go through it and see what he had written about Minho in parts of it? Chan  _ did _ play a part in getting Changbin and Felix together, but would he go so far as to swipe his book in order to show Minho? How could he have not said anything when Jisung said that it went missing?

“No! Chan hyung didn’t have any part in this,” Minho corrected, shaking his head.

So that was it, Jisung thought. His teeth gritted against each other in anger. “I didn’t lose it at all! And after all of this time of beating myself up over thinking that I was so stupid as to lose it, you just stole it!” He pressed a hand against his forehead and ran it through his hair, not being able to believe this.

Suddenly, his expression changed for a movement as he dared to look back at the one at fault again. “Wait a second. What did you do with my notebook? Did you read it?” He would be lying if he said he didn’t feel a bit afraid at this point. 

“I… couldn’t read the English parts,” Minho started

  
  


**Jisung**

@hansome

Oh thank god. It was mostly English

  
  


“So I translated it.”

  
  


**Jisung**

@hansome

Fuck. Me.

  
  


At that moment, everything shut down inside of Jisung. He stood there in complete despair and disbelief for what felt like eternity. His life was over. He couldn’t see himself coming back from this one. Covering his face with his hands, his shoulders began to shake. Minho couldn’t figure out if he were laughing or crying. Whatever it was, it was unsettling.

“Oh for fucks sake, this is wonderful…” Jisung groaned, throwing his hands from his face. “Not only did you  _ steal _ my notebook, causing me to hate myself entirely, nearly miss an assignment, and hurt myself in the process, but you also went out of your way to translate what I wrote about you in English. Congratulations, Lee Minho, you’ve done a fascinating job at making me look like an absolute fucking fool.”

Jisung felt nothing but hatred and hurt in this moment. His heart felt like it had been trampled on and his lungs seemed to not want to work correctly. He was so close to tears but he wouldn’t dare to let a single one fall in Minho’s presence.

“Forget about everything you read,” he said bitterly, already making his way to the door. “Those words mean nothing to me anymore.”

“Jisung-“ Minho tried to make him wait but the younger had already slammed the door shut behind him, the door rattling against the frame. There was no way he would be able to catch up to him with the state he was in right now.

  
  


**Minho**

@meowho

Fuck…

  
  


Jisung had to get out and he had to get out quick. His dorm was not an option nor was Chan’s and most definitely not Changbin’s home. He needed to be alone and someplace where he couldn’t destroy anything. Having another cleanup session for someone was not in his agenda. He was going to be sure that no one would be burdened by his misfortunes.

Picking the furthest secluded outside space on campus, Jisung let out his pent up anger and sadness freely. It felt amazing when he was sure that no one could possibly hear him cry his heart out. His heart was aching to the point his entire body hurt. He had never felt so miserable in his life.

It should have been a good thing that Jisung found his notebook. He should have been rejoicing. But the painful side to this was the fact that the one he liked; who was taken by someone else, had read all of his secret feelings about them. He felt so low. He could only imagine what Minho thought when he read it. He must have thrown it across the room in disgust. It surprised Jisung that he didn’t just throw the entire book away.

He felt so pathetic. Why did he decide to base his assignment off of Lee fucking Minho? Why did he think that was a good idea? Why did he ever let himself be entranced by the older boy in the first place?

Body against the tree, Jisung opened the book in his lap, flipping straight to a section he made while thinking of Minho.

_ ≪ L M H ≫ _

_ Everybody needs inspiration _

_ Everybody needs a song _

_ A beautiful melody _

_ When the night's so long _

_ You appear just like a dream to me _

_ Just like Kaleidoscope colors that _

_ Cover me _

_ It’s so amazing _

_ Every time I see it _

_ I keep it close to me _

_ So I can always bask in its beauty _

_ Though it is only a fantasy _

_ It still warms me _

_ — _

_ Nice guy M H _

He couldn’t read anymore.

A hand grabbed the corner of the page, fingers stopping shortly after merely crinkling the ear. He wanted to tear it out. He wanted to rip it up. To burn it. Despite these desires to destroy his feelings, he knew he would only regret it later. Guilt would eat him alive if he let himself make a mess out of something else again.

Tears fell like raindrops onto the open page of his book, smudging the penmanship scrawled across it. The entire situation was utterly humiliating for him. After seeing Minho up close with someone that wasn’t him had been hard enough on his heart. However he had come to terms with it eventually. He thought he was silly to think that someone like that would like someone like himself. But Minho taking his book out of Chan’s room where he left it and going above and beyond to figure out what exactly it said, that hurt on an entirely different level. He didn’t want his secret to be known. Only Felix was aware and he wanted it to stay that way.

Felix. Jisung couldn’t let him see him like this. This was going to have to stay as another secret with him. Even though he cursed Minho’s name, he couldn’t tell Felix. Not when the boy looked up so highly to the bastard and shone every time he brought the name up. In actuality, he wouldn’t be able to tell anyone about this. Everyone else he knew were friends with him, save just one person.

“I fucking hate this,” Jisung cried out in a hiccup.

Pulling his knees to his chest, he hugged his legs and buried his face down into them. 

As if things couldn’t go any better for him, he felt a drip of water fall to his head. He hadn’t noticed the dark gray clouds rolling in overhead. It would only be a matter of minutes before it would start to actually rain. That being said, Jisung tried his best to wipe away at his eyes before getting to his feet and reluctantly heading back to his dorm.

The entire way back he prayed that he saw no one that he knew. With his tear stained and puffy cheeks, the last thing Jisung wanted was to see one of his friends. Even though he was almost certain that Minho wouldn’t even bother trying to find him, he still resorted to taking the stairs instead of the elevator. Lucky enough for him, his room wasn’t that far away from the staircase so he could make a break for it the second he got onto the floor.

As expected, Felix was still missing from the room. With the way that Felix made it sound, he most likely wouldn’t be back until the morning at the earliest.  _ Maybe, just maybe, he’ll stay out for longer _ . With just the slightest bit of hope on his mind, Jisung headed to his shared room and dug out a small bag he owned so he wouldn’t have to worry about his book getting wet.

Tucking his notebook away into his bag, Jisung pulled the strap over his shoulder and gave the place one last look. Just in case Felix did come back early, he left a vague note on the fridge saying he would be back soon. He would definitely be back in time for next week’s classes. Those were still four days away. In the meantime he had to be anywhere but here.

Grabbing his umbrella to face the rain outside, Jisung shut off the lights and locked the door behind him before slipping down the staircase one more time. The rain was coming down hard now. The cover of the building kept him dry as he stood frozen, watching it pour down around him.

To better make him secure, he pulled his hood over his head. He reached a hand into his pocket to get his phone only to simply turn it off. It wouldn’t be needed for a while anyhow. Now that everything was set, he pushed open his umbrella and headed off to someplace that was not the campus or anywhere that reminded him of his misfortunes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ∩^ω^∩ See you guys next week


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Good morning [or night], you lovely people. I hope you are all staying safe and healthy during this stressful time. Things surely have taken quiet a turn since the last update. This is only the beginning but I hope you all stay out of harms way.
> 
> In the meantime, here is another update to help balance with all of the chaos in the world.
> 
> *the passage following this (*),written in italics, signifies a flashback. Present day is followed by normally formatted text

* * *

“I’m sorry I showed up here so late.”

Jisung sat on the damp seat of the bench that was located on the rooftop of Jeongin’s apartment building. The rain had stopped by this point, leaving puddles behind in its trace. He liked the way that the air smelt after it rained. It served as a bit of a calming purpose to him.

“It’s fine. I know you would only show up like this with a good reason,” Jeongin assured as he offered him a warm drink. He studied his friend intently, knowing that something was definitely different about him in aura sense the last time he’s seen him.

A sullen breath of a laugh escaped Jisung’s lips. His head was hanging low as he stared at his reflection in the liquid of the cup. By the smell of it, he figured it was some sort of tea that was supposed to make him feel better.

“It’s a stupid reason, really.”

“It must be stupid enough for you to bother to come over here when it had been raining so hard. You can start with why your right hand is a mess,” Jeongin suggested, eyes fixated on the messed up bandage Felix had applied around his right knuckles. Jisung had done a fine job at already needing them to be replaced.

Jisung chewed at the corner of his lip absentmindedly, trying to already gauge how Jeongin might react to his predicament. He watched as Jeongin settled himself down beside him on the bench as if he were ready for story time. His mouth formed a thin line before he sighed, “I’m only telling you this because I trust you and because you have no relation to the person it’s about. Also promise me you won’t tell Felix.”

“Felix,” Jeongin repeated, playing dumb. “Who’s Felix?”

“Jeongin…”

“I’m just kidding,” Jeongin waved. “I promise I won’t mention a single detail to Felix.” He extended his pinky out to the older for affirmation. “ _Promise_.”

Jisung wrapped his own pinky around the younger’s sealing the promise. “Alright,” he said and then proceeded to explain everything from the very beginning of laser tag to losing his notebook and all the way up until when he decided to come confide in his friend, not missing a single detail in between.

  
  


**Jeongin**

@notyouroppa

Am angry babie 😡

  
  


**Jeongin**

@notyouroppa

Forget babie, I’m just angry

  
  


Jeongin sat with his arms crossed agitatedly at his chest and a frown on his face. No matter how he processed the story, he wasn’t finding himself becoming too fond of it. “I understand why you feel the way you do. And now I see why you don’t want me to tell Felix.”

“Felix can’t know.” Jisung shook his head. “Just because I don’t like someone… I shouldn’t make it to where Felix has to feel the same. Especially when I know how much he looks up to that asshole.”

Jeongin smacked him at the sound of the curse word.

“Ow, damn. I’m sorry.”

Jeongin smacked his arm again.

“J-Jeongin!” Jisung flailed, trying to avoid getting hit one more time. “I’m sorry, I’ll watch my mouth,” he said, hands up in defense. Jisung let out a whine as he rubbed his arm where Jeongin smacked him. “You didn’t have to hit so hard…”

“Would you rather my mother come out here instead and beat you for using those words,” Jeongin questioned.

“N-no… I would at least like to not be kicked out of here tonight,” Jisung murmured, visibly deflating.

An amused smile appeared on Jeongin’s face before he got up, beckoning for his friend to follow. “Well come on, then. I’ll get your hand fixed up then tomorrow we’ll fix your ego.”

“M-my ego?” Jisung stuttered, not following what he meant.

Jeongin led him back down to his apartment, nodding. “I can’t let you go back with you still like…” He stopped in his tracks, searching for the word that was on the tip of his tongue but settled for, “this.” He gestured to Jisung’s overall energy. “You don’t want Felix to know anything, right? So that just means you’re going to have to completely change your mood and I’m going to help you with that. Right after I get out of school, anyways. My parents won’t let me miss just because you’re here.”

The two of them quietly entered the apartment, careful to not disturb Jeongin’s parents in the process. Jisung moved into Jeongin’s room and sat on the edge of the bed while the other made a beeline to get some things to fix the former’s knuckle wounds with.

“Don’t make my work be in vain, hyung,” Jeongin asserted as he removed the old, cut up bandage from Jisung’s hand to clean it and replace another one in its spot. “You do your part too.”

Jisung watched as the younger’s tender fingers worked their way at doctoring his hand with a soft smile. When he was all finished, Jisung leaned forward to embrace the smaller into a hug.

“Thank you so much, Innie,” he whispered with his chin resting on the other’s shoulder. “I already feel so much better now that I was able to get it all out.”

“Don’t become a sap on me, hyung. I can’t tolerate it. I’m not even done with you yet,” Jeongin groaned slightly, although he didn’t at all mind it with the way he wrapped his arms around the older’s firm frame. He pulled away after a few moments and cleaned up his mess of the first aid kit so his bed would be cleared off completely. “Come on, let's just get some sleep. One of us has to get up early in the morning.”

“Right, sorry,” Jisung apologized as he didn’t entertain another thought before making himself comfortable in Jeongin’s bed. It was one of those nights where he would prefer to be right next to someone instead of sleeping separated and alone.

He was grateful to his friend for this time. Without an outside party, he wasn’t sure how he would have gotten over this situation. He had felt so miserable inside, but because he could tell someone his problems without worrying about friendships being strained, he was able to breathe a little bit better. And he knew that Jeongin would do his absolute best to turn his mood around before he went back to campus.

“Hey hyung?” Jeongin asked as he crawled beside him. “Don’t hog all of my bed. I might just push you to the floor.”

  
  


—

  
  


“Jisuuuuuung,” Jeongin wailed as he tried for the fifth time to shake his sleeping friend awake to no avail. He was starting to wonder if he should just let the boy sleep at this rate.

“Huh… Huh?” Jisung rolled over onto his back to look at the one who disturbed his slumber. “What is it? What time is it?”

“It’s 7am,” Jeongin answered, sighing after. “I’ve been trying to wake you up for the past five minutes now to see if you want breakfast. Mom made some.”

Now that Jisung was more awake, he saw the way that the younger had already changed into his school uniform. After processing that free food was being offered, he sat up quickly and rubbed at his eyes. “Homemade breakfast? Why didn’t you say so earlier?”

  
  


**Jeongin**

@notyouroppa

(￣ー￣ ) I swear…

  
  


“You didn’t have to accompany me all the way to school,” Jeongin informed as they both boarded the public bus. “Charge two please,” he told the driver as he held his card onto the scanner.

“Why not?” Jisung questioned with a tilt of his head. “I think it would be nice to see the school again. I’m taking the window seat, by the way.”

Jeongin shook his head in defeat as he sat on the outer seat of the row. “It’s not like you can actually go inside or anything. They’ll stop you the second you try to walk through the gates.”

“Don’t worry about it. The outside is enough for me,” Jisung waved his hand dismissively before shifting his focus to the world outside of the window.

The ride wasn’t too terribly long as there were only a few more stops before they had to get off. Jisung trailed behind his friend as they made their way up the sidewalk to where the school was at. Even though it hadn’t been that long since he had graduated from there, Jisung still felt like reminiscing his days that he went to school here. It was such a wild concept to him with how many things have changed during that short period of time from being enrolled here up to the time he’s spent at university. It was safe to say that he had completely changed as a person.

“What are you going to do while I’m here?” Jeongin asked, stopping short of the gate to get into the school grounds.

“Uh…” Jisung opened his bag to pull out his notebook just enough to where it peeked over the side. “I have some work I have to do. To get my mind off things, you know?”

Jeongin nodded his head in understanding. He looked over his shoulder when he heard his name from being called from inside. A group of people were waving and inviting him over. He looked back to Jisung with a smile. “I better go. Don’t forget that you’re going to meet me here when I get out. If you bail, I’m coming after you,” he pointed his finger sternly at Jisung’s chest.

Jisung put his hands up in defense and then slowly offered his pinky. “I _promise_ I’ll be here as soon as you get out. I know you’d beat me into my grave if I ran off now.”

Jeongin completed the pinky swear with a grin. “Good. I’ll see you later~” He waved goodbye before running off to meet his friends on the other side of the gate.

  
  


**Jisung**

@hansome

He’s still as cute as ever

**Felix** @fabulix

???

  
  


**Lix**

( Where are you? )

( I tried calling you )

  
  


( I’m with Jeongin )

( Sorry, my phone was turned off )

**Lix**

( That explains the tweet, but why are you there? )

  
  


( I thought it would be nice to see him )

( I missed my bb 🥺) 

  
  


**Lix**

( Doesn’t he still have school today? How are you seeing him? )

( Wait- did you break into the school?? )

  
  


( What? No )

( I just saw him off. I’m going to come back to get him once he’s out. )

( He has something planned for us )

  
  


**Lix**

( Oh? )

( That sounds fun 😊 Enjoy yourself, Sungie 💕 )

  
  


**Felix**

@fabulix

I’m so glad that he’s having fun 😭

  
  


“I’m sorry I can’t tell you the full truth, Lix…” Jisung whispered as he stared at his messages for a minute longer. Finally he cleared out of them and stuck his phone into his pocket. He turned his attention towards the school and to where Jeongin was shrinking into the distance. A small smile crept onto his face as he thought about his time here.

  
  


_*_

_To say that Jisung had been a bully in his first few years there would be far from the truth. To say that he was a punk would be a bit closer to it, but still it wasn’t the right way to describe him. Before befriending Felix and Jeongin; and maybe even a little bit after the fact too, Jisung kept mostly to himself but he wasn’t afraid to stand up for himself or someone that was in need of some assistance. He was in an awkward position between being popular and being self-outcasted._

_Felix had just transferred near the beginning of Jisung’s time at the school. He was a bit closed off because of the language barrier but still tried really hard to make friends with everyone. Jisung had been too scared to try and become friends with him at the time. It wasn’t like he didn’t know English to better communicate with him or even make him feel more comfortable, he just didn’t have the courage to try._

_Courage only naturally came to him when it came to facing those who were unfair to others. He couldn’t stand to see people get away with bullying. Jisung had always stayed near the back of the classroom near the corner. Whenever he couldn’t focus with what was going on in the class, he would gaze outside to the soccer field below, watching people run and play all around it._

_One day while in between classes, he couldn’t help but pay full attention over to where Felix sat in front of him a few rows up where he was talking to the person who sat beside him. The Aussie-born had twisted up his words and spoke incorrectly, causing a couple of guys to laugh and make fun of him._

_“Honestly, this guy comes here but he can’t even speak the language.”_

_“His accent is off, too.”_

_Felix’s shoulder slumped in dismay. It was clear that he was sensitive about the way he spoke Korean. To Jisung, it seemed like he was trying his very best to always word things properly and understand what others meant by asking for clarification whenever he was stumped. No matter what anyone else thought, Jisung thought he was doing an amazing job. If it hadn’t been a known fact that Felix had just transferred here, Jisung wouldn’t have been able to figure out that he wasn’t from around here._

_“Ah… I’m sorry if it sounds weird to you. Or if I’m saying things wrong I’ll try my best to correct myself,” Felix apologized with his head bowed slightly._

_It hurt Jisung’s heart to hear him have to apologize to anyone for the way he talked. Despite only having known the boy for a week, he already had a soft spot for him._

_“Everything about it is weird. You don’t talk like a normal Korean would.”_

_“Where are you from again? Texas?” One of the boys asked, causing them both to laugh._

_“A-Australia,” Felix corrected, getting an annoyed look in response from them._

_“What? Are you telling him he doesn’t know what he’s talking about?”_

_Jisung had gotten up from his spot in the back, sending his chair back with a loud squeal in the process, catching everyone’s attention. He couldn’t take any more of their nonsense. It was Felix’s first time in Korea, what more could they expect from the poor boy? He was already doing way better than most foreigners would at this point._

_“Hey,” Jisung interrupted, kicking their desk a good half meter away from them to get their attention. “Why don’t you shut the fuck up? You’re both being annoying dipshits right now.”_

_“Ah? What was that?” One of them growled as they got to their feet to size up Jisung, who was quite shorter than the both of them. Fortunately for Jisung, he didn’t care about size differences. He just wanted them to stop bothering Felix._

_“Oh, let me try that again. Perhaps English is better for you since you want to ridicule the way people speak.” Jisung cleared his throat before speaking in perfect English dialect, “_ shut. the fuck. up.”

_Felix’s jaw dropped to the floor as the words came from Jisung’s mouth. If he had been expecting anything, this was not it. He hadn’t been around long enough to know that the usually quiet boy in the back had the mouth of a sailor._

_“And why don’t you make us?”_

_They had made the mistake of pushing Jisung first. He fell back until he was sitting on top of Felix’s desk, knocking into his closed notebook which he caught before it could fall to the floor. With his head hung to where his hair covered his face, he let out a heavy sigh as he neatly replaced the notebook back onto the desk._

_“God damn you guys are annoying…”_

_It ended when Jisung had hopped off of the desk and flipped the both of them over onto their backs. Incredibly he only managed to get grazed in the side once. All three of them had received some sort of disciplinary punishment. Though, Jisung got the lesser amount due to Felix butting in and explaining how he had only been sticking up for him and that he hadn’t attacked first._

_“Uhm…” Felix started but stopped as soon as it was out. Shifting his weight slightly, he fidgeted with his hands, eyes downcasted as he did so._

_Jisung halted just outside of the teachers’ office and turned back to look at him with patience._

_Slowly Felix raised his gaze to meet Jisung’s. He took a few steps closer and gave him a shy smile. “I really appreciate you standing up for me, back there. You didn’t have to do anything, but you still did.”_

_“Those guys were being dicks to you,” Jisung replied. “Any good person would have told them to fuck off.”_

_“You cuss a lot.”_

_Jisung couldn’t help but to laugh at the comment. “And you speak beautifully.”_

_Felix’s face gained a few shades of red at the compliment. Again, it was yet another unexpected thing to come out of the others mouth. But then again, he kind of found it comforting. “O-oh, thank you… for thinking that.”_

_“See, we both say some weird things,” Jisung pointed out, resting a hand on the boy’s shoulder. “Don’t let anything negative people say get to you. And you can always come to me if you need help, okay? I can help you if you have any problems with the language.”_

_Felix found himself smiling. He hadn’t imagined the quiet boy that sat behind him to be so generous and caring like this. Finally he could allow himself to relax by relying on Jisung to help him adjust to the new culture._

_“So you must be really strong, huh?” Felix asked as they started down the hall together. “You know, I’m actually a black belt.”_

_“You? A black belt?” It didn’t seem like Jisung was going to believe that one._

_“It’s true! Come over to my house and I’ll show you.”_

_Jisung laughed at the quick invitation but nonetheless accepted it anyways. “Alright, I’ll come over and you can show me all of them. Maybe you can even teach me a few things.”_

_After that, Felix had stuck around and befriended Jisung, slowly changing the other to be more open and extroverted and even kept his promise in showing him his belts. He made a point at converting physical confrontations with verbal ones. Though that only lasted until Jisung met Jeongin._

_Jeongin wasn’t even in their grade but he still wound up in their friend group by the same principle that Felix had. He was only a freshman at the time but was very popular for his cute appearance with his braces. The girls especially loved him, which only made more reason for a certain group of guys to find a distaste for him._

_Jisung had been walking around the outside of the school with Felix when they heard a tiny yelp from inside a secluded spot. Jisung had sworn it sounded like a baby animal of some sorts and wanted to see what it was. That was when they stumbled across the group that circled the young boy who was sitting on the ground, back against the brick wall and hand holding the corner of his mouth. A line of red trickled down his hand._

_“You’re not going to be so cute now with a busted face, are you?”_

_The boy talking kicked him while he was down while another joined him in throwing punches. Jisung didn’t wait for them to notice that he was there before he lunged forward, plowing straight between them and Jeongin. He didn’t care that he didn’t personally know the boy or even that the odds were against him 3 to 1. He was going to be sure that they paid for what they did to Jeongin._

_He used all of his force to grab the one on the closest side to him and throw him straight into the one standing beside him. As far as the one that had been talking previously, he sent his fist straight into the side of his face, knocking him clean out to the ground._

_“What the fuck is wrong with you people?” Jisung barked, standing defensively in front of the injured boy who was now looking up at him in complete shock. “Picking on someone younger than you, and for what? Because he’s cuter than you? You’re seriously threatened by a FRESHMEN? Get a fucking life, guys.”_

_“This has no concern with you,” one of them spat as they got back to their feet._

_“It does now. So don’t take one more step towards him,” Jisung warned._

_By the time Felix had brought a teacher over to get the boys that were at fault, Jisung had already knocked them all down and was currently applying a cloth to Jeongin’s mouth to try and clean it up even a little bit._

_“Shit… that looks like it must have really hurt,” Jisung commented. Being punched in the mouth with braces on only made the impact so much worse. “How did you even wind up like this?”_

_Jeongin winced at the touch, pulling his face away slightly. His face was aching in pain along with the rest of his body. “They told me I had to meet them out here…”_

_“And you just went?” Jisung was beyond shocked at how easily he obliged._

_“What else was I supposed to do? One way or another they would have done it…”_

_Jisung sighed defeatedly. “Listen, you’re too cute for people to beat up whenever they please. If people have a problem with that, tell them to take it up with me.”_

_“T-thanks, hyung,” Jeongin said in a small voice. He was ashamed at the way he let himself get hurt. It was even greater with the fact that the person who saved him also got injured. “Also I’m sorry that you got hurt in the process.”_

_Aside from the red mark on Jisung’s cheek, there were no other visible injuries that anyone could see. With this he was content with his condition. In all honesty he only cared that he got Jeongin out of there still in a conscious state._

_“Don’t worry about me. This is nothing.”_

_Felix ran over to the both of them once the three bullies were escorted away. “Gosh, look at you guys,” he frowned, dusting off Jeongin’s clothes before gently helping him up, trying his absolute best to not cause him anymore damage. “Come on, both of you need to be seen by the nurse.”_

_Both Felix and Jisung personally escorted the freshmen to the school nurse, making sure he would be okay. He suffered from minor injuries on his face and side. Had it not been for Jisung shielding him and putting himself against the rest of the beatings, he would have sustained a lot more damage. Jisung on the other hand just had minimal swelling on his right cheek and a small bruise to match it. Due to the situation, Jisung was saved from facing any disciplinary action this time around._

_“Thanks again for helping me,” Jeongin said as he handed both older boys a drink. “I really don’t know how I would have ended up if the two of you hadn’t stepped in.”_

_“Don’t worry, little Innie,” Felix smiled as he put an arm around his shoulder. “We’re all friends now so you can rely on us. Don’t hesitate to ask us for help.”_

_Ever since the incident, no one dared to trouble Jeongin again and girls began to flock to Jisung, thinking that he was so sweet and cool for doing what he did. And it was just like that that the three of them grew closer to one another and stuck together for the remainder of the time that Felix and Jisung went to school there. Even though Jisung didn’t think much about it himself, it was no wonder why Felix and Jeongin thought so highly of him for what he did for them._

  
  


Jisung thought about these events with a light chuckle escaping from him. Through Felix teaching him that he didn’t always have to get physical and Jeongin threatening his life every time he swore in front of him, he was able to mold himself into a more calm and careful human being. Though to say recently he didn’t feel like he had been doing a good job whatsoever to keep a level head. Especially not since the first encounter he had with Lee Minho.

Maybe this was just another reason he had to see Jeongin. So that he could be reminded of how he used to be and get pushed back into a calm state of mind. After all, he couldn’t face Felix again until after he was sure he wasn’t going to blow his cover.

Since he had ample time to kill before meeting back up with Jeongin, Jisung decided to head to a café to get his favorite drink and get to work. He still had a song to write the lyrics to with the music that Chan had given him.

He settled comfortably in a chair out of the way of everything and placed his notebook on the table in front of him. A hand rested on the cover, thumb rubbing up against the pages. His thumb did this three times before he could safely open it to a page that he knew would be completely blank. If he had flipped to a page where he had written about Minho, he wouldn’t trust himself to be able to get any work done.

He shuffled through his bag until he found his headphones. Skimming through his files on his phones, he placed them in his ears and hit loop on the soundtrack.

—

At some point in time Jisung had fallen asleep on the table, arms serving as a pillow for his head. The headphones had fallen out of his ears sometime while he was sleeping, the song track continuing to play for no one.

“Huh… I don’t remember falling asleep,” Jisung yawned, stretching his arms high above his head until he heard them crack. “Oh, what’s all this?”

He looked down to the opened page of his notebook with a completed song written down the length of it. On the next page were lines and phrases for a future project.

“Damn, I’m good. I finished all of that and still managed to take a nap. And it’s only-“ He tapped his phone on to see the time. “How the hell did I fall asleep here for 4 hours?!”

He looked all around the café, noticing that it was an entirely different clientele. It was hard for him to believe that he had slept for that long. Nonetheless, he was pleased that he finished his work despite the fact that he didn’t remember.

Packing up his headphones and notebook back into his bag, he got up and exited the café. This time he would kill the last four hours of waiting on Jeongin by seeing a movie at the local theater.

  
  


**BB Innie**

( You’re going to be here, right? )

( Hyung? )

  
  


**Jeongin**

@notyouroppa

Now where is he

**Felix** @fabulix

He’s missing???

**Jeongin** @notyouroppa

@fabulix false alarm 😅

( Sorry, I was watching a movie )

( Do you really have so little faith in me? )

( That I would actually ditch my bb? )

  
  


**BB Innie**

( I know how you like to wander off, hyung )

( Or flat out forget about things 🙄 )

  
  


( You lost me ONE time at the amusement park )

  
  


**BB Innie**

( And yet you were the one going around crying showing the workers my picture because you forgot where our meeting spot was and couldn’t find me 😑 )

  
  


( … )

( I was worried 😥 )

  
  


“He’ll never let me live that down,” Jisung sighed dramatically, replacing his phone into his pocket. The joke was on Jeongin at this point because Jisung had managed to make it to the front gate of the school 20 minutes before he would even get out. “See, I didn’t _forget_ ,” he scoffed to no one but himself.

Boredly he rested against the brick wall, watching people start to exit the building and flow out through the gate. He shifted his weight side to side to try and look for his red haired friend.

“Oppa. Are you waiting for someone?”

_Oppa?_ Jisung turned his head to see two girls standing beside him, giggling to each other. They looked what he thought was the typical preppy girl that was handsome guy-hungry. Long, straight hair slightly too short skirt, and a full load of makeup that he thought might have taken them an entire class period to finish.

“You’re handsome. You don’t go to school here do you?”

“Me?” Jisung pointed to himself before looking behind him to see if there was anyone else they could be talking to instead. “I uh, I used to go here. I already graduated.”

At that the two girls exchanged a look and just about lunged towards him, each holding onto one of his arms.

“Oh, you’re in university!”

“Oppa, your arms are really firm. Do you work out? Can we go to the gym with you? We’ll take pictures for you.”

“Do you have social media? We’ll follow you.”

Jisung was starting to panic at this point as he didn’t know what to do or say. He just prayed for a miracle.

“Hey, hey, you vultures, that one is mine,” Jeongin’s voice called out as he hurried over, pulling both of them off of his friend.

His miracle.

“Jeongin oppa?”

“I’m not your Oppa and neither is he,” Jeongin clarified, standing in front of Jisung so they wouldn’t try to cling to him again. He knew how much his friend didn’t like people he didn’t know too close to him.

The two girls huffed with their arms crossed. “You can’t just keep all the handsome oppas from us.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah, whatever,” Jeongin waved a hand at them before ushering Jisung along. “Come on, we have somewhere to be.”

The younger led the way to the shopping strip, Jisung following obediently behind. “It sounded like you’re still popular with the girls,” Jisung commented.

“Me? You were the one they were clinging onto. Too bad that wasn’t Mi- uh, never mind,” Jeongin stopped himself before he fully got the name out. However it was already too late. That had been careless of him. “S-Sorry…” he apologized, seeing the look on Jisung’s face. He knew the other already knew what he was going to say.

Jisung looked away from him, collecting his thoughts before they got a hold of him. “No, it’s alright. It is too bad.”

Jeongin’s mouth formed a thin line. He looked his arm around the other’s and continued down the sidewalk. “We’re forgetting about all of that. Come on, it’s time for your appointment.”

“It’s what? What appointment?”

Jeongin didn’t bother answering him. Instead he pushed open the glass door to a salon close to the school and drug him inside. He went up to the front counter and spoke to the person working before going back to his friend and taking his bag from him.

“They’re ready for you,” he flashed a toothy smile.

“I don’t understand. What’s going on?”

“This is part one of ‘getting back Jisung’s ego’,” Jeongin explained before pushing Jisung forward towards the worker. “Part two comes after. Now go on.”

“So uh… what exactly are you guys doing to me? My friend over there didn’t tell me anything.”

“He instructed us to keep it a surprise,” the worker answered. “Don’t worry, though. You’re going to look great.”

  
  


**Jisung**

@hansome

Suddenly I’m scared

  
  


Jeongin waited patiently for the time that his friend would come back out. Eventually enough Jisung came walking back towards the front lobby. He was fidgeting with his hands, trying his best to not touch his hair.

“Well?”

Jeongin looked up from his magazine, eyes growing big at the results of his request. Jisung’s once light colored hair was now turned into a shiny silver color that was parted in the front off to the side. He couldn’t resist jumping to his feet and patting the slight fluffiness of his hair.

“Oh yes. This is better than I had expected. It really suits you, hyung.”

Jisung studied himself in the reflection of the dark section of the window. He’d be lying to everyone if he didn’t agree that he did in fact look quite good like this. Maybe Jeongin was onto something after all.

The younger happily paid the bill at the front counter before he took Jisung’s arm and led him somewhere down the street unknown to the older.

“I guess this is phase two, right?”

“You know it.”

Jeongin stopped in front of a clothing store, staring into the windows of it. Nodding his head to no one but himself, he opened the door and went inside. Making a beeline to the guys’ section, he carefully looked over different shirts and jackets, running his fingers along everything that caught his attention.

“We’re shopping for clothes?”

Being too invested in his search, Jeongin didn’t bother looking up at him. “Let’s just say that your fashion sense is… well, you don’t really have a fashion sense,” he said flatly, shifting through shirts on the rack in front of him.

  
  


**Jisung**

@hansome

I don’t have a fashion sense?

**Hyunjin** @hwangjin

No.

**Changbin** @spearb

Maybe if you wore black 🌑

**Felix** @fabulix

I think you look cute 🥰

  
  


**Jisung**

@hansome

At least someone thinks I’m cute…

**Jeongin** @notyouroppa

I didn’t say you weren’t CUTE, I said you didn’t know how to DRESS

  
  


“Do you really think this is necessary?” Jisung questioned as he curiously watched Jeongin pull articles of clothing from the rack and throw them over his arm. 

“Hyung, are you beginning to doubt me? You came to me for help. I’m going to help. I know exactly where your ego lies.” He added with a wink, “you’ll see.”

A sigh of surrender left Jisung at that. In the end, he didn’t see any harm in playing along with what Jeongin had in mind. If he were being honest, he would say that he did find this entire thing to be a little bit amusing for him.

Once Jeongin finished gathering an armload of clothes, he started towards the dressing rooms. He found a vacant stall and shoved Jisung in and handed him a set of clothes. “Start with these. Come out once you’re done changing.”

Jisung felt the door close at his back. Blinking, he stared down at the clothes that had been dumped onto him.

Jeongin waited a few seconds, not hearing anything from the other side. “Do you need me to help you?”

“N-no! I can change by myself,” Jisung called as he hurriedly striped his current clothes off before Jeongin could invite himself in. He tossed them over top of the stall door to prove he was actually getting dressed. A few moments passed before the door opened slightly with a wary Jisung peeking out behind it.

Jeongin took it upon himself to open it the rest of the way to see how the first outfit looked. It consisted of a long sleeved white shirt with black lines checkering across it. The black collar of it was comfortably snug a few inches up Jisung’s neck. It was paired by black pants with each leg having two thick white rectangles on the lower side of the calf.

Humming to himself, Jeongin circled around his friend. He lifted up both of his arms and tilted him both ways until he was finished inspecting him. “Not quite… onto the next one.”

The next combo Jisung sported was a striped tee with a jean jacket and ripped black jeans as pants. Jeongin still didn’t see it as the one so he sent him back in with the last outfit.

This time Jisung stayed behind the closed stall door for what felt like an eternity. Eventually enough he swung the door open and stepped out, a look of confidence on his face.

Jeongin dropped his phone when he looked up at him, mouth hanging open at the sight. He didn’t bother picking it back up before he moved around his friend, very much liking what he saw.

This time he was dressed in all black, with the shirt being the darkest shade amongst the button up jacket and pants. There was a dash of the color blue in the design of his shirt just so it could add some contrast to the dark look. Overall, Jeongin was definitely pleased.

“Third time’s the charm it seems,” he whistled. Taking a step back he was able to really get a good look at his friend. “Don’t take this the wrong way, but… you look hot. Like, I could take you on a date right now, hot.”

A grin spread to Jisung’s face. The clothes he wore definitely gave him an entirely new aura. He felt good. It was safe to say that his ego got a bit of a kick. He stood in front of the mirror that covered part of the wall, twisting and turning each way to see every angle of him.

“I have to admit it, Jeongin. You did a really good job at this makeover. I _do_ look hot,” he agreed, running a hand through his silver hair.

Jeongin nodded with his arms folded in front of him. “First you have to look good, then you can feel good. Do you feel good?”

“I feel sexy.”

Jeongin laughed, “you look sexy. Come on, get your stuff and I’ll take you on that date once we pay for this.”

  
  


**Jeongin**

@notyouroppa

Everyone say, “thank you, Innie.”

[ image attached ]

**Felix** @fabulix

Thank you, Innie 😭

  
  


**Felix**

@fabulix

Our babie is a miracle worker: confirmed

**Changbin** @spearb

Baby?

**Felix** @fabulix

@spearb Yes? 👉👈

**Changbin** @spearb

No 🤦

**Jeongin** @notyouroppa

@spearb Am babie 👶

  
  


**Jisung**

@hansome

Felix is dumb: confirmed

**Changbin** @spearb

😡

  
  


**Felix**

@fabulix

My Jisung is back 💕😭

  
  


**Minho**

@meowho

😕


	17. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *3RACHA roles in lyric writing and production are definitely swapped around in this story

* * *

**Chan**

@cbang

Something is amiss…

  
  


**Chan Hyung**

( Are you alright? )

  
  


( ??? )

( Yes. Why? )

  
  


**Chan** **Hyung**

( Last time I checked, you were a hoe for cheesecake. )

( And you’re missing. )

  
  


( A h- actually I can’t argue that 😩 )

( I got some earlier )

  
  


**Chan Hyung**

( Really? I’ve been here all day )

  
  


( I didn’t mean there )

( I went to a bakery on my way back to campus 😋 )

[ image attached ]

  
  


**Chan Hyung**

( Oh I see. )

( If you want to hang out, Changbin and I are free )

  
  


( Thanks hyung! I’ll see if I can finish up this work here first 😁 )

  
  


“Hey, hyung,” a voice called out, making Chan look away from his phone.

“Oh, Minho. What’s up?”

Minho cautiously approached the table he was sitting at before taking a seat in front of him and asked, “you’re here by yourself?”

“I’m literally right here,” Changbin muttered with his arms crossed in front of him. He couldn’t tell if the older was just blind or being rude as per usual towards him.

Minho eyed him for a second. “Right… anyways,” he started, shifting his weight so that he could put his hands underneath his thighs. “What’s new?”

Changbin huffed quietly at the way he had been forgotten about so quickly. It was typical of Minho to give him a hard time for no reason whatsoever. He gave up entertaining the notion in favor of going back to eating.

“Nothing much,” Chan replied nonchalantly with the shrug of his shoulders. “Just working on some new tracks, writing lyrics, homework, working out, the usual. What about you?”

Humming to himself, Minho studied him for any signs of something else he hadn’t mentioned in his list. In the end, he couldn’t find anything that told him that either of the two he was sitting with knew anything about the notebook. Chan and Changbin both had spoken as casually as ever to him. If Chan knew, Minho would have bet on some sort of confrontation about it. Chan was always big on dealing with awkward circumstances while they were still fresh. 

_Jisung is absent again today and neither one of them have asked me about him. Did he really not tell anyone what happened? Where is he, anyways?_

Though he might regret it later, he decided against telling them himself. If he could just find Jisung, he was sure he could handle it. He hoped he could handle it, anyways. Even if it hurt to try, he was going to do this without giving anything away. “I haven’t done much since I’ve finished promoting,” he answered once his thoughts had finally settled down. At least he was being honest. “I can’t really do anything for awhile with the way I hurt my ankle.” Another truth.

“What? You hurt yourself?” Changbin spoke up. “You’re seriously out here walking around like that?”

The concern from Changbin’s voice surprised Minho to say the least. The truth was, he didn’t particularly _want_ to be out walking around in the condition his ankle was in. The only real reason he came out here was to try and give an apology to someone he was unable to give before. But it didn’t seem like that was going to happen today. Even with Felix tweeting the day prior about ‘his Jisung being back,’ he still failed to find the boy anywhere. This would be a huge challenge for him working by himself.

“I’ll be fine as long as I’m not doing anything too extreme,” Minho assured. He continued when the look on Changbin’s face told him that wasn’t enough reassurance. He didn’t hold it against him.He _did_ have a track record of not properly taking care of himself. “Don’t worry, I’ve already gotten full permission to miss my studio classes this week. I have ample time to rest in my room.”

Even though he wasn’t going to be penalized for not attending this week’s studio class, Minho was still incredibly bummed about it. It was no one but his own fault for being too careless and getting hurt. He was having quite the streak of bad luck lately. He had been cooped away inside of his dorm for too long and it still wasn’t the time to leave it. However his need for recovery got overlooked in favor of scouring the campus every so often.

“Take it easy in the meantime,” Chan said. “You’ve been working hard so don’t rush healing.”

Minho let out a sigh as he leaned against the table. “I wish I could…”

It was a good thing in his eyes that the two in front of him knew how much dancing meant to him so that his bummed attitude didn’t look at all suspicious.

* * *

  
  


The last thing on Jisung’s agenda was to leave his dorm room for any longer than he needed to. It was at times like this when he really appreciated himself for being able to so comfortably live as a hermit. After finally leaving Jeongin’s company halfway into the next day of staying, he got himself an entire cheesecake at a bakery on the way to his dorm and kept himself shut in ever since. Felix had been out when he came back so he decided to quietly work while eating his ‘breakfast.’

He was in the middle of messing around with some song on his laptop when Felix finally entered the room. Having headphones over his ears as he did, Jisung didn’t seem to realize that the younger had come in. Felix noticed this fact and sneakily crept around Jisung’s peripherals in an attempt to jump out and scare him. Too bad for Felix, he didn’t even get the chance to finish his act before Jisung saw something moving and jumped on his own when he saw his figure lurking towards him.

“God damn it, Felix! You’re always trying to scare me to death!”

Jisung was halfway off the couch, holding his laptop close to him in fear of it breaking. His voice was incredibly loud. Felix guessed he couldn’t hear himself with the headphones on.

Laughing, Felix reached over and removed the set from Jisung’s head so that he could hear him. “I didn’t even jump out yet but still you managed to scare yourself.”

Jisung huffed, settling himself back down into the divot of his couch cushion. “I didn’t hear you come in.”

“That was kind of the point,” Felix retorted with a bit of a giggle in the undertone of his voice. He settled down beside the now embarrassed and slightly irritated Jisung so that he could play around with his new hair style. His fingers combed gently through the silver strands. “Our baby Innie really knows what’s stylish, doesn’t he?”

“It looks good, doesn’t it? He even called me sexy.”

Felix deadpanned, fingers halting in the other’s hair. “Please don’t corrupt our child.”

Taking his hand away, his eyes moved over to the coffee table in front of them, more specifically to where Jisung’s half eaten piece of cheesecake was sitting. “What is that?”

“That’s what we call cheesecake, Felix.” Jisung said then again in English, “ _cheeeeeesecake._ ”

“No, not that, you dummy,” Felix said, picking up the plate so that he could get to the object that had modestly served as a coaster for it. “This.”

Jisung stared at his notebook for a second before going back to what he was doing on his laptop. “That’s my notebook,” he said simply, as if it were actually simple.

Felix froze in time as he searched for what entity had possessed his friend. He found his cherished notebook and he wasn’t jumping for joy? The unrendered reaction he was receiving was more than enough to make him wonder.

  
  


**Felix**

@fabulix

That’s it. Jisung is sick.

**Changbin** @spearb

I swear it wasn’t me

**Jeongin** @notyouroppa

I hope I didn’t catch it 🤢

  
  


**Jisung**

@hansome

I’m not even sick 😑

  
  


**Minho**

@meowho

Hm.

  
  


“Jisung-“ Felix’s mouth was hanging slightly agape. “It’s your notebook.”

Jisung looked around the room with just his eyes as if he were missing something. “Yes. That is what I said. That is my notebook.”

“Wh- where was it? Aren’t you happy that you got it back?”

_Was_ Jisung happy that he got it back? That question he didn’t know the answer to for sure. Just in having it back he felt relieved, but knowing where it was and what had happened to it filled him with anxiety. It was better just to forget about it.

Jisung paused before throwing up jazz hands “ _Surprise!_ It was in the lost and found all this time, you believe it?” Jisung asked just as he had rehearsed many times before with Jeongin. He had always had trouble with telling stories, but at least with the way he worded it, it wasn’t meant to be a truth. It was just him asking if he believed that story. Thankfully, Felix went for it.

“Oh wow,” Felix blinked. “I never even thought about checking there. I didn’t know we even had that sort of thing here.”

A smile spread to Jisung’s face. Mostly in part by how gullible his friend was and how easily he bought that story. He didn’t like keeping secrets from his best friend but in this case he thought it had to be done. Besides, who was that story going to hurt? If anything, it was saving friendships from being strained. Jisung was doing good.

“Yeah, I should have checked there first, but you know. You can’t think straight when you’re panicking.”

Felix propped an arm up against the back of the couch so he could rest his head as he studied his friend curiously. So many thoughts ran through his head about the way his best friend had been acting lately, though all he could come up with was, “you’re back to being calm again. What exactly did Jeongin do to you? Did he hypnotize you? Has he been dabbling in witchcraft?”

“Let’s just say I had a lot of reminiscing to do when I saw him,” Jisung decided, tapping away at his chin in thought. He was careful not to tell him the real reason for him being gone for a day and a half. “Of who I used to be, who you guys made me into, and Innie changing my look was definitely something. It was something like that.” Sighing softly, he leaned back and looked at his friend. “I feel refreshed, if anything. I can think clearer.”

“I wish you would have told me,” Felix started. “Not just because I wanted to see him too, but also I wasn’t sure where you had gone.” There was a slight frown resting on his face at this point. He really did start to fear that something else had happened that made Jisung leave for as long as he did before he was able to get a hold of him.

Shutting the lid to his laptop, Jisung removed the device from his lap so that he could comfortably face Felix. “Sorry about that, Felix. It was sporadic and I knew you were just having a blast playing doctor with Changbin. I didn’t want to bother you,” he winked.

Felix’s face became red with embarrassment at the sudden change in topic. “I-it wasn’t like that!”

“Like what?” Jisung snickered. “I didn’t say anything.”

Felix playfully hit Jisung in the arm, albeit it was still on the heavy handed side of the spectrum. “I know what you were poking at, Sungie. Don’t think I don’t know you.”

Stifling another laugh, Jisung rolled his eyes at him. He enjoyed this. He enjoyed how easily it was to change the subject with Felix to get his attention away from the touchy subject. It was going to be okay.

* * *

  
  


Later that night Jisung would take up his notebook and laptop, heading out of his dorm. He wanted to make a guide for the lyrics he wrote that went along to the track Chan had sent him. It would be a good step in making sure everyone was going to be off his back about him staying shut in his room for the entire weekend.

After pondering just outside the door, Jisung decided to go down the stairs and head en route to the library. If he remembered correctly, there were study rooms that he would be able to occupy for until they would close. Going anywhere near the performance building was far off of his list of places to visit. His studio there would have to wait for him a little bit longer.

He walked through the main level of the library towards the front desk to get a study room unlocked for him. Despite not having any equipment with him, the room would work for the time being. After all, all he needed to do was get a decent guide in. He could just use his laptop’s mic for that since it would not be the final product for the song.

Jisung flipped the lightswitch to the room on with the spine of his notebook before settling himself down in the back corner, furthest away from the door. This was so that there was least chance of any sound being carried through to the other side while he worked. Thankfully for him, the walls and doors were all thick.

“ _Placebo…”_ Jisung sounded as he typed the title out on the file, dragging the music down into the timeline. Reaching for his book, he flipped it open with his thumb at the part he had bookmarked with his pen. The page settled with the lyrics he wrote for this specific song.

  
  


_I’m doing good, I’m doing fine_

_I'm doing well, I’m doin’ alright_

_Trust me, believe it or not_

_I'm doing well, I'll keep pushing forward_

  
  


A puff of air escaped Jisung’s nose as he read over the first few lines of the first verse. He rested his chin in the palm of his hand as he played around with the rhythm in his mind. There was amusement to him in the choice of words that he used. The idea that a lie would eventually become the truth if it was told for long enough stuck with him.

“This will be the last trace of the hopeless poet, Han Jisung,” he promised to nobody but himself as he scribbled directive notes around different stanzas on his paper. “ _I’m doing good… I’m doing fine,_ ” he recited even though he was no longer on that line. Quickly he finished up his notes and began working on recording the guide.

After carefully aligning everything into its rightful spot, Jisung leaned back in his seat, listening to the finished guide version. The low volume was interrupted by a sudden knocking sound at the door. Hitting the spacebar with his thumb, Jisung paused the music and looked up slowly to see who it was.

The familiar face of Hyunjin standing in the window was a relief to Jisung. The tall boy was pointing down at the handle, trying to request that it be unlocked for him. Sliding the chair back, Jisung rose from his spot and opened the door.

“Oh so it was you in here,” Hyunjin quipped once he was in the door frame. “I was being kicked out but the worker asked me to stop by here first because she was too shy to talk to a handsome guy,” he explained then murmured off to the side, “but she had no problem getting me to leave…”

_Handsome guy? Me? Jeongin really did do a bang up job with his little stunt after all, but a lot of people are mentioning it lately. But Hyunjin is definitely more model material compared to me._ Even with casual clothes on, Jisung did have to admit that he did look quite nice these days. Hyunjin on the other hand always looked like he walked straight out of a fashion magazine. The older definitely took his look more seriously than himself. “Maybe it’s just because you frequent here so they’re comfortable with you, Hyunjin. But why are you getting kicked out? Were you being too loud again?”

Hyunjin’s face fell to that of a stoic look. “No. They’re just closing soon.”

Dumbfounded, Jisung stood there for a second. “Oh. Oh right, they are,” he remembered before hastily gathering up his belongings off of the table and pushing the chair back in. Time had flown by without him realizing it. With one hand holding his laptop, he used the other to flip the light switch off with his book.

“You found your book, I see,” Hyunjin noticed as he waited for the younger to exit. “I was beginning to think that you would never find it. Where was it all this time?”

“The lost and found,” Jisung lied.

A short look of confusion flushed over Hyunjin’s face at that answer, though he didn’t seem to have any means of questioning it further. He merely continued walking out of the library, saying farewell to the two girls at the desk.

“They have definitely seen me too many times in here before,” Hyunjin insisted before he glanced at the boy beside him. “But why were _you_ in there? I didn’t expect you to like staying there.”

“I needed a quiet place to record a guide. And Felix was playing online games so my dorm was out of the question,” Jisung explained. It was a convincing enough answer, he thought.

“Why not at either of the producer hyung’s places? Don’t they have more than enough equipment for you to use?”

“Well,” Jisung thought. He was trying his best to not look fishy. He should have taken more notes from Jeongin. “I wanted it to be a surprise, you know? It wouldn’t be much of one if they heard me recording.” To Jisung’s relief, Hyunjin seemed to accept that answer with the way he nodded his head slightly. “Anyways… I’m going to head to them now since it’s finished. I’ll see you later,” he waved before heading his own way.

Hyunjin held a hand up in farewell as he watched him turn the corner and vanish from his sight. Lowering his hand back down, he reached into his pocket to pull out his phone and send a text.

  
  


( I thought you checked? )

  
  


**Minnie 💕**

( Checked what? )

  
  


( The lost and found for Jisung’s notebook he was missing )

  
  


**Minnie 💕**

( I did two different times, but it was never there )

  
  


( Something isn’t right )

  
  


**Minnie 💕**

( What do you mean? )

  
  


( I’m coming back now, I’ll tell you there )

  
  


A knock came from the outside of the door to Chan’s dorm.

“It’s open,” Chan called without even bothering to look up from his desk.

Trying the handle, Jisung found it to be unlocked and let himself in slowly. Even though he was welcomed in, he still felt he was intruding. He stuck his head in first, making sure the occupants weren’t busy. “Hey, hyungs. You busy?”

“Always,” Chan replied to which Changbin rolled his eyes at.

“He’s playing solitaire.”

Now inside the dorm, Jisung gave a bit of a judgmental look and closed the door softly behind him. “Isn’t that for old people?”

Chan swiveled around in his chair at that, feigning offense. “It _strengthens your mind_.”

There was a beat of silence.

“Sure, dad,” Changbin said before pretending like Chan wasn’t even there in favor of putting his attention in the direction of the silver haired boy that walked in. “So what brings you here out of hiding?”

“I wasn’t _hiding,”_ Jisung lied, though more confidently this time. It was getting easier for each one. “I was just being lazy.” If he kept it up now, he might become a full blown fibber by the end of the night. But that wasn’t what he was there for. He walked over to join Changbin on the couch and set his stuff on the wooden table in front of them. “But, I _did_ finish writing the lyrics for the track you guys gave me and I even did a guide for it.”

There was a very pleased expression on his face as he opened the lid to the laptop and pulled up the audio file. He adjusted the volume before hitting the play button and sitting back to let it run.

  
  


**Chan**

@cbang

This one is very talented.

**Jisung** @hansome

They don’t call me a genius for nothing ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

  
  


“Seems like we have some work to do tonight if you’re up for it,” Chan offered as he rolled over to them in his chair.

“Didn’t you say you were busy?”

“That was just solitaire, Changbin.”

  
  


**Jisung**

@hansome

But that sounds like a good song name

**Changbin** @spearb

Please don’t make me lose my respect for you

**Felix** @fabulix

@spearb 👿

  
  


**Changbin**

@spearb

Han Jisung genius 🤩

**Felix** @fabulix

🙌

  
  


**Jisung** @hansome

Ha. Changbin hyung is so whipped 😙

**Changbin**

@spearb

Don’t get too cocky 😒

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Anyways, Han Jisung genius.


	18. Chapter 18

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome back~ I’d like to start off by saying that I’m so grateful to all of you. I’m nearly at 4K hits and I’m shocked to say the least. To think that so many people are continuing to read this story makes me so happy ｡ﾟ(ﾟ´ω`ﾟ)ﾟ｡
> 
> As far as the story goes, the route for the next three chapters will depend heavily on your reactions/thought processes of what’s going on. For the sake of not spoiling anything, I can’t really go into details with what I mean. The end result will remain the same but your opinions definitely play a part in how the story gets there. I’ll be watching carefully so I can really pull this together well. Don’t mind me (:

* * *

**Chan**

@cbang

And we’re back 🥳

[ https://soundcloud.com/3racha/placebo-prod-cb97 ](https://m.soundcloud.com/3racha/placebo-prod-cb97)

  
  


**Changbin**

@spearb

Shameless self-promoting, nothing else

[ https://soundcloud.com/3racha/placebo-prod-cb97 ](https://m.soundcloud.com/3racha/placebo-prod-cb97)

  
  


**Jisung**

@hansome

Wake up, fools. 3RACHA is back to serving

[ https://soundcloud.com/3racha/placebo-prod-cb97 ](https://m.soundcloud.com/3racha/placebo-prod-cb97)

  
  


**Minho**

@meowho

It’s literally 4am

  
  


**Hyunjin**

@hwangjin

They released more than one song but only shared a link to one of them…

**Jisung** @hansome

But you still found them, didn’t you?

  
  


**Felix**

@fabulix

Anyways, stan 3RACHA 🐓

  
  


The next morning came with 3RACHA all passed out in Chan’s dorm from staying up all night releasing new music to their shared SoundCloud profile. The very thought that any of them had morning classes slipped their minds completely in the midst of recording, producing, and uploading. Chan was curled up on his bed with a body pillow hugged up against his bare chest while Changbin and Jisung were slumped against each other on the couch. Long after Chan had gone to sleep, the two of them worked together on a duet that was still pulled up on Changbin’s computer.

The vibration of Jisung’s phone in his pocket caused him to squirm awake, sending Changbin to the floor in the process.

“Ow, fuck,” Changbin cursed as he picked his head off the floor, holding it in his hands. “Agh… I’m awake now, but damn that hurt.”

Scrambling off the couch to kneel down beside Changbin, Jisung winced. “Shit, hyung. Sorry about that. But I guess we’re even now, huh?” He couldn’t help but let out a breath of a laugh as he remembered the morning Changbin had sent him flying off his bed in one kick to his back. With his phone vibrating once more to remind him he had a phone call, he pulled it out and slid his thumb over the accept bar.

“Uh… hello?”

“Jisung.” It was Felix’s voice. “Where are you?”

“Chan hyung’s room,” he answered simply and then, “I never left.”

Changbin looked up when he heard the faint sound of his favorite voice from the other side of the receiver. “Is that Lix? Let me see that.” It was more of a statement than a request with the way he nearly yanked the phone from Jisung’s loose grip. “Lixie~ Why didn’t you call me? It would have been nice waking up to you calling me rather than Jisung kicking me to the floor.”

Felix’s voice instantly changed to that of sunshine the moment he heard the swap of possession of the phone. “Binnie! Good morning! I did try to call you; your phone must have died or something,” he thought as Changbin started searching for his own phone only to find out that it had in fact died overnight. What a complete tragedy. “Anyways, tell Jisung that he’s already missed breakfast and that he’s going to miss our assignment in class too if he doesn’t hurry up. Okay, gotta go now, love you!”

Jisung patiently sat with his arms folded in front of him as he watched Changbin melt into a puddle of mush over Felix’s message. “Hyung. Have you no pride?”

There was a wide grin on Changbin’s face, one that spread from ear to ear as he held onto Jisung’s phone tenderly. “Shut up and let me live happily. By the way, you’re going to be late for some assignment, Felix says.”

“ _FUCK!”_ Jisung jolted up to his feet without a second thought, knocking into the table beside them and cursing again. He had forgotten all about today. He needed to get going before he lost any more time. Quickly he grabbed his notebook and nothing else before running out the door to his own dorm.

“Wait! Jisung, your- Aish, he’ll be back,” Changbin decided before setting Jisung’s phone down on the table and laying back on the couch. He still had a little bit more time to sleep before his own class started.

A disheveled Chan stood in the doorway of his bedroom, rubbing at his eyes tiredly. His hair was a complete mess atop his head. “Everything good?”

“Jisung ran out without some of his things,” Changbin yawned, stretching himself out on the couch now that he had it all to himself. “I’ll give it to him later. I’m going back to sleep. Goodnight, hyung.”

As if he were a zombie, Chan stood there for a moment longer before nodding and skulking back towards his own bed. As long as nothing was wrong, he could let himself flop back down on his bed again.

  
  


Jisung hardly made it to class on time. In fact, there wasn’t a minute left to spare by the time he flew into the room and collapsed heavily into his seat beside Felix with a loud groan. “God, I… I made it…” He panted heavily through each breath. Sure, he was incredibly fit and no stranger to a good cardio workout, but having run the entire way from his dorm to class took it out on him.

The three of his friends all looked at him in concern, wondering if the poor boy was going to make it. Felix put a hand on his friend’s back, feeling the intense heart rate and heavy breathing of him. “Are you okay? Did you run all the way here?”

Through Jisung trying to catch his breath, all he could do was nod. “I hate… running… God I’m so tired.”

In the process of getting his bag onto his desk he noticed an iced americano already perched on top of it. Reaching for it slowly, he turned to look at Felix with sappy eyes. “You got this for me?”

“Actually,” Seungmin chimed in with a soft smile on his face. “I’m the one that brought that here.”

Silently and suddenly Hyunjin’s eyes flicked to look at Seungmin with a hard to read expression. If the other noticed, he seemed to have no means of making it known to the older with the way he kept his attention on Jisung.

“Oh wow, thanks Seungmin,” Jisung bowed gratefully in his direction before sucking up the cold drink. With as little sleep that he got last night, the gift was like a god-send to him. Now he could last just a bit longer throughout the day. “I really needed this after last night.”

  
  


**Felix**

@fabulix

Am I missing something?

  
  


“Ugh… that’s right, I forgot my phone back in hyung’s room,” Jisung sighed as he was packing up his belongings and noticed it missing. “Damn Changbin hyung took it from me the second he knew it was you calling,” he told Felix.

“But you left it there,” Felix pointed out in Changbin’s defense. “Along with; I’m assuming, everything else except for your notebook.”

Jisung’s grip tightened slightly against the cover of his notebook at the mention of it as he shoved it into his bag. “There was no way in hell I was leaving that there after-“ He cut himself off before he let himself slip completely. “After... I already lost it once. I would rather my phone go missing than this again,” he decided on.

That would have been unfortunate if Jisung had let himself finish explaining that he would never give someone another chance at reading through this book ever again after Minho already got a hold of it. He was going to have to keep an eye on himself so that wouldn’t happen again.

“Your phone, really?” Felix gasped. “How would you watch all of your Nat Geo videos without it?”

“On _your_ phone, obviously,” Jisung joked as he headed out of the classroom. To be honest, Jisung didn’t care much about his phone in the first place. There was nothing embarrassing on it to begin with.

Felix stopped short of the hallway to look back at Hyunjin who was still at their seat. Both him and Seungmin were inconspicuously whispering something to each other that he couldn’t hear when he called out to Hyunjin. “Hyung, are you coming?”

Hyunjin looked between Felix and Seungmin before exchanging a few more words and finally joining up with Felix. “I’m coming, let’s go.”

Jisung stepped aside for them to pass and watched them walk off as Seungmin came out. The two of them headed down the hallway towards their next class.

“You probably feel really tired after last night,” Seungmin guessed. By the looks of it, Jisung still looked drained on the surface despite having a slight caffeine kick. There were slight bags under his eyes and his face wasn’t as bright as it usually was. Though that also might be partially from his slight heartbreak. Even with how Jeongin completely revamped him on the inside, there was still residue of the feelings.

“Ah,” Jisung rubbed the back of his neck. “Yeah, even after we made and uploaded those few songs last night, Changbin hyung and I got into it with a duet. I don’t think we ever finished it by the time we passed out. I really doubt I would even feel this much awake hadn’t it been for that drink, though.”

Seungmin looked at him in surprise. It was amazing that the boy could even stay up for so long making so much music and still manage to partially function the next morning. If he were being honest with himself, he wouldn’t have thought Jisung would have it in him to bother making it to class this morning. Maybe if it weren’t for the assignment that was due today he wouldn’t have even cared.

“You guys are really amazing,” he complimented as he started swiping through his phone. “A lot of people here are envious of your group.”

His phone screen was filled with a timeline of positive comments mentioning 3RACHA. Students from the dance department all through the production department were posting their support for these three. From the way that Jisung’s eyes were bulging out, Seungmin guessed that he had no clue how popular they were becoming. It was a bit understandable since he knew the way Jisung didn’t socialize very much around the campus.

“Wow… I didn’t think that people around here actually listened to us. Really I have to thank the hyungs for all of this.”

Seungmin shook his head. There was no way he was having that. “It’s you too, hyung. You’re a part of it. Also the song from last night that you wrote the lyrics to, that was incredible. It’s no wonder that you have so many fans.”

“Fans?” Jisung questioned. “I have fans? I don’t have fans.”

“No,” Seungmin corrected, his lips curved upwards in a faint smile. “You definitely have a fan.” He pat Jisung on the shoulder once before adding, “see you later.”

“ _A_ fan?” Jisung repeated although by this point Seungmin had already parted ways from him. The conversation kept replaying itself in his head as he tried to wrap his mind around it. He wondered if he had been too oblivious this entire time or if the statement had merely just been encouraging words.

  
  


After Jisung’s classes were dealt with, the silver haired boy met up with Changbin and Chan in the commons as per usual. The pair of them looked much better rested than he had found them earlier this morning. _Lucky bastards got to sleep in longer than I did…_

“There he iiiiiis,” Changbin called as he waited patiently for his friend to join him at their table. Reaching into his bag, he pulled out Jisung’s phone and laptop to place on the table in front of him. “The man that ran off without his things.”

“Shut up,” Jisung huffed lightheartedly as he plopped down in a seat in front of them. “Luckily I didn’t need them today,” he haughtily pointed out but still gave a look of gratitude when adding, “but thanks for bringing these with you.”

“Mn, you’re welcome,” Changbin muttered as he propped his chin up against his hand.

Unlocking his phone, Jisung decided to actively search for any mentions of their group. There were countless posts from girls that talked about how cool they were. He wondered how he hadn’t noticed the excessive increase in followers on his own personal page until now. _Thousands? That can’t just be from this school, could it?_

“Hey hyungs,” Jisung said as he started looking around. It was only now that he began to realize that many people oftentimes stole glances in their direction. “Is it just me or have people started taking an interest in us lately?”

Chan looked up from sipping his drink quietly. “Lately? I think more people have started listening to our work.”

It was a bit strange to Jisung. Maybe it was just because he wasn’t used to this sort of thing whereas Chan was a very interconnected individual. He was always talking to people and seemed to know just about everyone on campus. On the other hand, Jisung stayed in his closed circle of friends and didn’t try too hard when it came to talking with people. It was easy for Jisung to miss the way that people paid attention to them.

“You have to admit, we’re good.” It was hard for Changbin to not sound like he was bragging but he was being completely honest about it. “People are just now beginning figuring it out. This is my second year here, but ever since 3RACHA became a thing, more people have been approaching me.”

“They probably didn’t before because you’re so scary looking,” Jisung joked to which Changbin frowned at. “But hanging around Felix, people think, ‘oh he’s not so scary after all.’”

The fact that he wasn’t completely wrong made Changbin huff with folded arms. “ _Despite_ that, us three are becoming talk of the town in our major.”

“Next thing you know we’ll be like Minho. Top spot, work with current artists, and more.”

“In that case, hyung, the two of you are already the same. Jisung and I still have some work to do.”

Minho. Jisung had done good with pushing all thoughts of the damned boy away from him. He had seemingly forgotten that he too was friends with his own. That had been careless of him. He needed to get over himself. Avoiding the boy wouldn’t be able to last forever.

Chan noticed the slight irritation in Jisung’s demeanor. “You alright?”

“Huh?” Jisung snapped back into reality, controlling his facial expressions again. “Yeah, I’m good. I’m just tired,” he sighed out, body slouched over against the side of the table. “I think I’m going to go take a nap.”

“Ah, okay,” Chan blinked as he watched Jisung rise from the table, laptop in arms and bag over his shoulder. “Sleep well,” he called out then looked to Changbin. “Do you think he got a bit discouraged getting compared to Minho?”

Changbin shrugged with his hands outwards. “I don’t know, maybe? Jisung is only a freshman whereas Minho hyung has been here for a few years to work himself up. But also I think Jisung is really something so he shouldn’t be too hard on himself.”

  
  


* * *

  
  


The moment Jisung got back to his dorm, he shut down on the couch to take a well deserved nap. After staying up all night to do song work, he needed a quick power up before he was going to even think about doing any other work. He was curled up with his knees against him and arms hugging a pillow when Felix entered their dorm.

The sound of the door closing woke Jisung up from his slumber. Picking his head up, Jisung looked over to see who it was as if anyone besides himself and his roommate even had a key to get in.

“Hey hyung~” Felix cooed with what Jisung thought was a mischievous smile. “Were you sleeping?”

Jisung narrowed his eyes at the overly friendly boy. It wasn’t like him to come in and start calling him hyung. He only tended to do that when he wanted something from the day older or when he broke something like that time when his wii remote flew out of his hand and broke their lamp. Jisung had told him that the strap had a purpose.

Leisurely, Jisung pushed himself up to a sitting position and leaned back against the pillow he had been snuggling. “I _was_ …”

“Right, you were probably tired from last night still,” Felix nodded as he waltzed over to the couch. Smiling still, he rocked back and forth on his heels, holding his hands behind his back. It was definitely suspicious Felix behavior if Jisung’s ever seen it before. And having knowing each other for years, this was definitely it.

“So, hyung…”

“I know you’re plotting something, Felix. What is it,” Jisung sighed out, wanting to get the charade over with already.

“Plotting something? Me?” Felix put a hand on his chest in surprise. “No, no!” He laughed, waving his hand in the air dismissively.

“You only really ever call me _hyung_ when you either, a. want something from me, or b. you did something bad.” Jisung crossed his arms in front of him and stared him down expectantly. “Now what is it?”

“ _Weeeeeell…_ .” Felix’s normally low voice was in a higher pitch as he began to say his piece. “I do kind of _need_ something from you…” His eyes were dancing all around the room.

Jisung’s confusion only increased with this. He sighed again. “Come on, Felix. Just tell me what it is. If it’s something you need you know I’ll just give it to you.”

Felix clasped his hands together in front of his chest in hope as he smiled brightly at his friend. “Will you come to the dance studios with me and help me with my assignment?”

  
  


**Jisung**

@hansome

Oh hell no.

  
  


**Jisung**

@hansome

Jeongin??? 😑

**Jeongin** @notyouroppa

What did I do??

**Jisung** @hansome

@notyouroppa I should be asking you 

  
  


**Jeongin**

@notyouroppa

I didn’t even breathe-

  
  


Instantly Jisung’s face fell to a deadpan expression. There was no way in hell he was letting himself get roped into being in that damned building where Minho likes to reside. Felix must have known something if he was coming to _him_ to ask for help on a dance assignment. Jisung wasn’t even a dance major to begin with.

“No.”

Felix must not have been expecting that hard rejection at all with the way he seemed to freeze in his spot. He crawled onto the couch and nearly on Jisung too as he tried again. “ _Please hyung?_ ”

“Where’s Hyunjin? Isn’t he in the same class as you?”

“He’s busy with something else,” Felix frowned. “And I don’t have enough time tomorrow to go and practice.”

Jisung wanted to gag at the next question but asked anyway, “what about Minho hyung?” There was no way that no one could just not be around to help Felix with his assignment. It just had to be a trap. Though, he didn’t know what kind of trap it would even be. There was no reason for him to even see Minho in the first place.

Felix shook his head. “Hyung said he can’t even go to his own dance classes because he hurt himself. So I didn’t ask for him to help me.”

_Minho hyung skipping his own dance classes? That’s unheard of._ _Still, this doesn’t sound right to me._

Not believing this, Jisung crossed his arms. “Why are you asking me? I’m not a dance major.”

It came off a bit more harsh than he had intended it to and it showed in the way Felix looked at him. It was a mixture of shock and hurt and all around it made Jisung feel like someone had stabbed him straight through the heart. Felix’s lowered voice twisted the knife even more.

“I just thought that maybe it would be fun if you did it with me…” Felix started. There was definite pain in his voice even though Jisung knew Felix was trying his absolute best to mask it. His head was lowered and his eyes watched the couch cushions. “It would be easier to learn that way. And besides, you’re still good at learning dances and helping me with them even though you’re not majoring in it.”

  
  


**Jisung**

@hansome

Damn it, Jisung.

**Changbin** @spearb

You good?

**Jisung** @hansome

@spearb just fine

  
  


Jisung unfolded his arms to hold Felix’s hands, squeezing them gently. “Hey, wait, Lix. I’m sorry,” he quickly apologized. “I didn’t mean it like that.”

He was mentally pummeling himself for upsetting Felix like that. He hadn’t meant to do it. He thought that he was being tricked into seeing Minho. What he saw now was just that Felix wanted to hang out with him and enjoy himself while still being able to do his assignment. There was no way that Felix could have known about anything. The reason he was being so strange was probably just because he knew Jisung had been sleeping and didn’t want to make him feel obligated to get up. What Jisung was being right now was a terrible friend and that needed to get fixed ASAP.

He wanted nothing more than to help his friend. He only wanted to see him succeed and be the very best that he could. Jisung had always been the first to support Felix with his dancing and through that he was able to become good at it as well. Even if it _were_ for something else, who was Jisung to stop helping Felix now?

“I’m sorry, I got a bit cranky. I shouldn’t have said that. I’m honored that you want me to help you even though I know you have a lot of talented dancer friends,” Jisung said and gently lifted Felix’s chin so that their eyes could meet. In his most sincere voice he spoke again in English to really get his apology through. “ _Let me help you, Felix. I want to help._ ”

A wave of relief rushed over Jisung at the sight of Felix’s soft smile. Felix leaned forward so that he could hug the older and rest his chin on Jisung’s shoulder comfortably. “Thanks, Jisung.”

“You know I would do anything for you, right?” Jisung asked softly as he tenderly held Felix’s body weight in his arms.

“I know, hyung,” Felix nodded then quietly chuckled under his breath, “you shouldn’t make fun of Changbin hyung so much for being whipped, you know? You’re just as bad, if not worse.”

He got him there. Apart from Changbin, Jisung was absolutely whipped for the younger in his arms. Not only for Felix, but Jisung would do anything for Jeongin too. Maybe it would be wise of him to not sound so much like a hypocrite.

“You make a fair point,” Jisung agreed. Finally he let go so that he could get to his feet and gesture to the door. “Come on, let's make sure you do good for your assignment.”

  
  


**Felix**

@fabulix

One of the best dance partners, Han Jisung 🕺

[ image attached ]

**Jeongin** @notyouroppa

Amazing how he’s still laying down even though you’re supposed to be dancing

**Jisung** @hansome

@notyouroppa I was taking a BREAK

  
  


**Minho**

@meowho

Maybe… 😶

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/n: chapters may be shorter for the sake of not having a billion time skips/scene changes in a single chapter
> 
> Stay tuned for next Monday~!


	19. Chapter 19

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Beautiful day in the neighborhood, isn’t it?

* * *

  
Jisung and Felix worked tirelessly to perfect Felix’s dance assignment. It was simple enough, really. He just had to decide on a dance cover and learn sixty seconds of it before the next class. This gave him only a day and a half to get it down. No two people could have the same song so it wouldn’t work out so well if he had a classmate help him out unless they learned both dances. Not that he would mind learning two so someone could help him, he just figured Jisung would be a good candidate as any to help him get just one down.

With Jisung’s help, Felix was able to successfully nail the entire dance segment along with a bonus thirty seconds. Everything was clean and on beat with the music. Even though Jisung was only a production major, he still had a good eye for directions and picking out slight mistakes that Felix made. To say the least, both of them were pleased with their results.

“Are you sure you don’t want to change majors, Sungie?” Felix asked from the floor. He sat back against his hands with his legs out straight in front of him. Dancing for the past two hours was starting to finally catch up to him. “You’re a lot better of a dancer than you give yourself credit for.”

Jisung was sprawled out on his back, body mimicking that of a starfish. “Nah, nah, nah… I couldn’t see myself dancing for a living.” He swiped a hand out in front of him as if he were conjuring up a picture. “I see comfy chairs and pillows in my future.”

Felix watched as he waved his arm around above him with amusement. He thought it was such a shame that his friend wasn’t into dancing to the extent that he was. To Felix, Jisung was really talented in the area. Though he didn’t pick up on choreo as quickly as himself nor did he think he could choreograph a song, he could still manage to learn it just the same.

But he liked the path that Jisung had chosen for himself. Producing music was definitely Jisung’s niche. No matter what it was, he always created something that sounded good. Whether it be an upbeat or slow song, he could arrange it in a way that flowed beautifully. Felix had been so touched when Jisung created a piece just for him to choreograph. It sounded exactly like what was in Felix’s soul. Bright and energetic at the same time as being smooth. Jisung had matched music to him perfectly.

Felix wondered if it were purely just a lazy thing that made Jisung not want to go into dance. Besides his usual exercise, his friend wasn’t one for excessive movement. During any break, he could most likely be found laying down sleeping or just watching videos on his phone. Sitting somewhere making music was also a common situation to find Jisung in.

“Don’t worry, Lix. I’ll always make music for you to dance to,” Jisung smiled while looking at Felix upside down from where he lay on the floor. He rolled over onto his stomach and pushed himself up until he was standing. “I’m all hot now so I’m going to go find something to drink. You coming?”

Felix waved a hand at him to go ahead. “I think I’m going to keep sitting here for a little bit longer to catch my breath.”

“Suit yourself,” Jisung said before heading out of the dance studio room.

  
  


**Minho**

@meowho

This is starting to become a pain 🤕

**Changbin** @spearb

We told you to rest

**Minho** @meowho

@spearb I am resting

  
  


**Hyunjin**

@hwangjin

🤨

  
  


Felix was rolled over onto his stomach, playing on his phone when the studio door opened again. “Sungie, come watch this,” he beckoned before he noticed who it was that had showed up. “Oh, hyung. Sorry, I thought you were Jisung.”

The boy had looked up to find Minho standing just inside the threshold, scanning the room intently. He was dressed in very casual lounge clothes. Felix thought he must have come from his dorm or somewhere around campus like that. It wasn’t what he usually wore to classes.

_I know he was here. The picture was definitely of this room so where the hell did he go?_

After seeing Felix’s post of Jisung in this specific dance studio room, Minho wrapped up what he was doing just to come here in hopes of catching him. He thought he would be able to breathe a little bit easier if he did, but it turned out that Jisung was still nowhere to be found.

_He wasn’t with Chan hyung or Changbin earlier either. But he was most definitely here. He was with Felix. So why isn’t he here now? No one knew I was coming here._

To say the least, Jisung just happening to always vanish just before he got somewhere was starting to drive him nuts. All he wanted to do was talk. He was beginning to debate whether or not he wanted to get Felix’s help.

“You didn’t have to get up,” Minho offered as Felix approached him. “I was just passing by.”

“No, it’s alright,” Felix assured. “Are you alright being here? Does your ankle still hurt a lot?”

“A bit,” Minho admitted after a second. “But it’s fine as long as I’m not putting much weight on it.” He looked around once more at the room as if Jisung would materialize somewhere in front of him. “You’re here alone?” He asked even though he was more than sure that he hadn’t been alone prior to him coming.

“No, Jisung was just here. I asked him to help me with my dance assignment.” Felix continued to explain when Minho gave him a questioning look. “He’s actually really good at it. He may not seem like it, but he’s good at dancing and directing me. I told him he could make it here in this major instead.”

Minho folded his arms at his waist in thought. He wouldn’t have pegged Jisung as the type to know much about dancing. Then again he remembered the video Chan posted of that time they went to a club and Jisung, albeit probably very much drunk, dominated the dance floor.

“Oh, hyung!” Felix piped up, suddenly changing the subject to Minho’s dismay. “Since you’re here and all, could you maybe watch just once and give me your opinion?” With the way that Felix was smiling so brightly at Minho, there was no way that he could say no.

“I’m all yours.” Minho motioned towards the floor before backing up to give him plenty of space.

  
  


**Jisung**

@hansome

Aye hold up. What the fuck?

**Jeongin** @notyouroppa

How many times do I have to tell you

**Jisung** @hansome

@notyouroppa fkfkd- I’m sorry 😓

  
  


**Jisung**

@hansome

No but seriously

**Chan** @cbang

?

**Jisung** @hansome

@cbang you wouldn’t believe it. I lost my wallet

**Changbin** @spearb

You have a bad habit of losing things

  
  


Jisung was crouched against the door of the studio room, head peeking just into the window to see inside. He had been a second away from walking back in when he noticed the slim boy that accompanied Felix. Thankfully neither of the two had seen him. Minho’s back was to the door and Felix was too busy showing the older his routine that he had been working on for the past couple of hours to even begin to notice his presence.

“Why is he here…”

Felix had specifically told him that Minho was skipping his dance classes this week. He really doubted that the boy came here to do any dancing of his own nor did he believe that Felix invited him. After all, Felix made a point to not ask Minho for his help since he was injured. Math may not be his strong suit, but things were not adding up to him.

“Oh wow, Felix is really good.”

Jisung yelped in surprise at the unprecedented voice that spoke behind him and fell to the ground with a hand over his mouth. He looked up to see an equally surprised Seungmin looming over him.

“What was that?”

Jisung heard the two from inside start to move towards the door. Heart rate quickening, Jisung hurriedly crawled beneath the window of the door to avoid being seen. He snatched Seungmin by the wrist and pulled him into the stairwell. Not stopping until they were safely outside the building, Jisung drug Seungmin behind him the entire way, nearly tripping the other up the steps.

Once outside, Jisung let go of Seungmin’s wrist and put his hands on his thighs. He panted as he tried to catch his breath. “Fuck… everyone is always scaring me…”

Seungmin rubbed at his wrist where Jisung had a more or less tight hold of him at. “Are you alright?” Forget his wrist, he was more concerned about the way his friend was acting.

Jisung let out a heavy sigh before standing up straight again. “I’m fine. But why did you sneak up on me like that? I nearly pissed myself.”

“I was curious as to why you were standing outside the room like that,” Seungmin explained. “Why did you take off running? It was just Felix and Minho hyung in there.”

Jisung didn’t want to answer that at all. Instead he asked, “what were you doing there? You’re not a dance major.” The bottom floor was for the dance and production studios only. Neither of the two being someplace Seungmin would have a class in.

Shaking his head, Seungmin laughed softly. “No, I’m not. But the vocal rooms _are_ on the top floor of that building.” He grabbed the jacket that was draped over his shoulder. “I was there to retrieve this. Leave it to Hyunjin to forget something like that in his classroom. I was on my way to leave but I saw you acting suspicious so I came over.”

That made sense. Jisung rubbed the back of his head nervously. “I wasn’t acting suspicious… I just wanted to watch Felix from outside.”

“Is that why you asked ‘why is he here’?”

Jisung’s mouth formed a thin line. He hadn’t realized that Seungmin had overheard that part. “That was, uhm…” _Damn it, why am I always so bad at lying?_ How could he even lie about it? Seungmin knew he was there to help Felix so the only person it could have been about was Minho. There was no getting out of that one.

Seungmin exhaled through a sigh. “Never mind that,” he offered gently to which Jisung was relieved to hear. “Jisung. I’ve been meaning to talk to you.”

Jisung couldn’t describe why it was but suddenly his full attention was on the younger. There was a sort of soft expression on his face that Jisung worked his mind at to figure out the reason for it. “To me?”

“Yeah,” Seungmin barely nodded. “Do you have the time?”

“Uhm, sure. I have some time,” Jisung agreed. At least this way he would have a solid excuse for not going back into the dance studio.

  
  


**Sungie** 🍰

( Hey Lix. Sorry, I ran into Seungmin while I was out )

( I’ll see you back at the dorm )

  
  


Felix looked down at his phone when the notification sounded for Jisung’s message. Though Minho tried his best to not look so obvious, he leaned over just a tad to try and see what it was. Felix, being the innocent child that he was, was already opening his mouth to relay it.

“That was Jisung saying he’s with Seungmin right now. But then I wonder what that was outside because I swear it sounded just like him,” Felix contemplated, scratching his head in thought.

_That bitch…_

Luckily Minho was an expert at keeping a null face expression even when he was irked. On the surface he was calm but inside he was groaning. He didn’t know how much longer of living with guilt he could take.

“Really?” Minho asked, voice as calm as ever. “That’s a shame. Actually, I’ve been meaning to ask him something…”

Felix perked up at that. Last he knew, his friend had a crush on the boy in front of him and this seemed like a good opportunity to get that into the works. If only he knew that the last thing Jisung wanted was any sort of contact with him.

The smaller boy was already offering his phone out to him with a smile on his face. He was trying his best to not make it look like he was shoving it at him. “Do you want his number?”

Minho stared down at Felix’s phone. The screen was lit up with Jisung’s contact info. The picture was of him sitting down somewhere playing with a microphone. He could honestly probably memorize the info if he put effort into it. Or he could just put it into his phone right now. Felix _was_ offering it to him, after all.

_He would probably block me the second I sent anything. It would be best if I just see him in person._

“No, that’s alright. I’m sure I’ll see him again soon,” Minho assured. He couldn’t do this now. He would have to try again later. In the meantime, he would have to get Felix’s mind off of that. “Since there was an interruption last time, do you want to show me your dance again from the top?”

“Yeah! Here, I’ll get it ready,” Felix beamed as he searched for his music.

Minho took it upon himself to sit on a nearby tabletop as Felix got ready, letting his ankle be free of any body weight against it. He let himself fall into his own little world as he waited.

_I can’t help but wonder what Seungmin is doing with Jisung right now…_

He anxiously bit at the inside of his lip in thought until he heard music begin playing. Instantly he shut off all prior thoughts and gave Felix his full attention. The rest could wait.

  
  


**Minho**

@meowho

Damn. He really is good at dancing

**Changbin** @spearb

Is that my Felix you’re talking about?

**Minho** @meowho

@spearb you’re so cringey 🤢

**Chan** @cbang

@meowho Aren’t you supposed to be resting?

  
  


**Minho**

@meowho

This isn’t about me, this is about Felix

[ image attached ]

**Changbin** @spearb

🥰


	20. Chapter 20

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gooooood Monday, guys. Thank you as always for reading (*´꒳`*) I love you all. Something’s happening very soon

* * *

Seungmin and Jisung stopped by the campus café to get a drink before sitting on the outskirts of the campus on one of the benches. Classes were over with so there wasn’t much traffic around them, leaving them with a more quiet atmosphere. The chilled night air felt good against Jisung’s exposed arms after working up a sweat in the dance room.

Sucking on his drink quietly, Seungmin seemed to be taking his time with getting what he wanted to say out. His gaze was set on the other side of the road where people made their way in and out of shops. Jisung couldn’t tell if he had just forgotten the reason he asked him out here or if he was just really enjoying his drink. Whatever it was, it was saving him from seeing Minho.

Once Seungmin’s drink was half gone he finally spoke. “ _Okay._ Jisung.”

Jisung eased his own drink down until it sat in the space between his legs. “Yes?” Seungmin was doing a terrific job at giving him zero hints about what was on his mind.

“Has something been bothering you?”

It was such a sudden question that Jisung almost fell over in surprise. He blinked a few times and searched Seungmin’s face for any hints but again he found none. It was a strange thing to hear from his mouth. Not even Felix had picked up on much of anything being out of order with himself.

“Why do you think something is bothering me?”

A second passed before Seungmin spit out a small laugh. “Ah, something definitely is,” he murmured, looking to the other side of the street again.

Jisung shifted his weight slightly. “What do you mean?”

Seungmin leaned back comfortably against the hard wood of the bench, the boards creaking softly against his back. He closed his eyes for what felt like an eternity despite it only being a few seconds. Jisung couldn’t help but to notice the details of his facial features like this. His face was softly lit under the dim glow of the evening. Maybe he was just hungry, but his face reminded him of marshmallows.

“Hyung. Do you know that Hyunjin and I have never fought before?”

Jisung furrowed his brow at the random change in subject. What did Hyunjin have to do with any of this? He wasn’t going to be sure unless he entertained it. “Really?”

Seungmin nodded his head slightly. “Every night before we even go to sleep, we always tell each other what’s on our minds. We get everything out into the open so that we don’t have any bad business.”

Jisung still wasn’t sure what he was getting at so he let him continue.

“We let each other talk and we never interrupt. The other can’t talk until the person speaking is finished. That’s how we avoid not hearing the full story of things.”

All at once Jisung began to understand. There was an obvious look of realization on his face and he knew Seungmin saw it. Jisung really did have a nasty habit of not letting people talk and keeping things to himself.

“I know I don’t know you all that well like Felix hyung might,” Seungmin started slowly, trying his best to gather all his thoughts. “But you’re showing all of the signs of someone who’s in distress.”

Jisung played dumb. He couldn’t let up so easily. “I’m not in distress.”

The lie came out so easily to him. It rolled straight out of his mouth with minimal effort. He had been lying to himself for so long that saying he was fine came to him as easy as breathing.

“Jisung, you are.” Seungmin was looking straight into his eyes at this point. It was enough to make Jisung sit quietly and listen without arguing. “Just this past weekend alone you’ve been more enclosed in your dorm than ever, you’ve been real jumpy, and correct me if I’m wrong, but usually when someone drastically changes their appearance, something is up.”

“T-that last part wasn’t my decision,” Jisung stammered. This was bad, he thought.

Seungmin continued. “I’m not going to ask why you lied to Hyunjin about where your book was, but I have a good feeling that that is a part of what this is revolved around.” Pausing, his mouth formed a long, thin line. It was as if he were contemplating saying the next part. It came out anyways. “That… and Minho hyung too.”

Swallowing hard, Jisung tried his best to look away but he just couldn’t. Seungmin had him hypnotized. His stare was calm and focused and it pierced straight into Jisung’s soul. The thought of running away right now came to mind, but he bet Seungmin would be able to catch him before he even made it a meter away from where they sat.

  
  


**Jisung**

@hansome

I’ve been caught

**Jeongin** @notyouroppa

By who??

**Jisung** @hansome

@notyouroppa

I’ll call you later

  
  


**Jeongin**

@notyouroppa

OH MY GOD JISUNG HAS BEEN ARRESTED

**Felix** @fabulix

WHAT

  
  


**Jisung**

@hansome

Everyone shut up, I didn’t get arrested 😒

**Changbin** @spearb

I knew it was too good to be true

**Jisung** @hansome

@spearb HYUNG??

  
  


Jisung hated this. He hated how clever Seungmin was. Everything he said had been true. He had been distressed. He had been avoiding confrontation. The only person he had come clean to was Jeongin. Why was it such a big deal? Why couldn’t everyone just leave him alone? He swore he could pull himself together if he could just get a chance to forget all about it. But it didn’t seem like anyone was going to let him do that.

Clutching harshly against the outer board of the bench, Jisung dug his nails into the wood. He couldn’t do this anymore. Not when everything had been so on the mark. With a heavy sigh, he relaxed his fingers until they were just resting against the hard surface. His eyes rolled to the side until they met Seungmin’s patient ones.

“You know what… you’re right,” he began, already dreading the words falling out of his mouth. “About everything. I don’t know how, but you know it all.” He felt his head drooping. He was tired of this.

Seungmin slid over on the bench just until their legs were touching. He felt bad for his friend. Trying his best to offer some sympathy, he rested a comforting hand on his back and rubbed it back and forth. “I’m not going to tell you what to do or anything. I won’t even ask you for the details that I don’t know. But think about what I said.”

Jisung nodded his head once in acknowledgement. “I will,” he promised in a voice that was almost mute.

Seungmin took his hand back and watched him for a moment. “Do you want to walk back to the dorms together?”

Shaking his head, Jisung whispered, “no, I think I’ll stay out here and think for awhile longer. And Seungmin?”

“Hm?”

“Could you do me a favor and not mention anything to Felix?”

Seungmin gave him a look.

“I don’t want to worry him right now. I promise I’ll spill when I have everything sorted out.”

Seungmin sighed defeatedly. “Alright. I won’t mention anything to Felix,” he promised.

“Thank you.”

Seungmin looked down at the jacket sitting in his lap before picking it up and placing it around Jisung’s shoulders, startling him in the process. “If you’re going to stay out here, I can’t leave you in just your plain t-shirt. You’ll become sick for real if you do,” he explained, alluding to the tweet Felix made about Jisung being sick.

“But won’t Hyunjin miss his jacket?”

“Actually,” Seungmin pointed a finger in the air. “It’s _my_ jacket. Hyunjin was just the one that borrowed and left it in his class today.” He stood up, grabbing his now empty cup in the process. “I’ll get it back from you later. It’ll be fine.” Already backing up so that Jisung didn’t have a chance to give it back, he waved farewell to him with his winning smile. “Good night, Jisung. Think well.”

Jisung watched as he walked away, thoughts already spinning around and around in his head as he was left alone. The wind wafted the jacket that hung around his shoulders’ scent into his nose. It was that of a homey aroma and it instantly calmed him down. Absentmindedly he pulled the collar of it closer to his face.

With a long, drawn out sigh he leaned back against the bench and stretched his legs out in front of him. He fished his hand into his pocket and retrieved his phone. The screen lit up with Jeongin’s contact. He tapped on the call button without a second thought. He needed to talk.

Jeongin picked up on the second ring. “Hyung.”

“Hey, Innie…” Jisung’s voice was quiet as if he were scared of being overheard by someone. “I just needed to talk.”

“What was your tweet about?” Always straight to the point with him. “Who did you get caught by?”

“My friend Seungmin,” Jisung answered, using his free hand to mess up his hair. “He called me straight out on the way I’ve been isolating myself and even with how I lied to Hyunjin about finding my notebook in the lost and found. And… he was right about guessing that Minho hyung is also involved.”

“What? How did they know you lied about that? Did you do it like we rehearsed? Honestly, hyung, you’re such a trash liar.”

“I guess they had actually looked there,” Jisung guessed to which he heard a small “oh” on the other side from Jeongin realizing people might have actually checked that place. “And he did hear me asking myself why Minho hyung showed up to the dance studio. But besides that, I might have a different problem…”

“Why is it a new problem every week with you?”

“Innie.”

“I’m sorry, go ahead. You know I’ll listen to whatever you have to say.”

Jisung subconsciously played around with the end of the jacket draped over him as he tried to pull his words together. “I think there’s someone else…”

The other end fell dead silent to the point that Jisung thought he had been hung up on. Checking his screen, he found the call to still be ongoing. “Jeongin?”

“What? Sorry. What was that? My mom was calling me. It cut out for a second.”

Jisung opened his mouth once more but eventually closed it, deciding against repeating himself. “Never mind. I didn’t say anything,” he lied. That was starting to become a bad habit all on its own. “By the way, you didn’t say anything to Felix, did you?”

“No, we made a pinky promise, remember? You can’t break a pinky promise.”

Jisung let himself chuckle at that. “He really scared me earlier. He asked me to help him with his dance assignment so I thought he knew and was trying to get me in the same room with Minho hyung. Turns out I was wrong and ended up upsetting him for a minute.”

“Han Jisung, I don’t care who you are, you better not go around hurting Felix,” Jeongin threatened. Even though he was all the way back at his home, Jisung was still scared for his life.

“I-I’m sorry! I apologized to him! I didn’t mean to do it on purpose.”

“You better not or so help me I will show up by your bedside and be the first thing you wake up to in the morning.”

Jisung sweat dropped. “The scary thing is that I know you would too…” He learned quickly back in high school that Jeongin may not look it, but he could easily knock Jisung out if he wanted to. Though he never understood why he didn’t defend himself very well when he first met him. “Anyways, Innie. We made up for that. But when I left Felix to get a drink, Minho hyung was there in the room with him. I know Felix didn’t invite him and he’s supposed to be skipping his classes this week so why was he there?”

“That’s a bit odd,” Jeongin thought and was heard humming softly afterwards. “Hyung, do you think he went there for you?”

Jisung burst out laughing at that. He didn’t believe it for a second. The thought was far too crazy. Why would Minho go there for him? The two didn’t have any business together.

“No, hyung, I’m serious,” Jeongin interrupted. “Felix posted a picture of you in that dance room. You said he didn’t get there until a while after you guys were there. He could have seen that post and gone to try and talk to you.”

Jisung furrowed his brows, trying to make that sit well with him. “Why would he want to talk to me? Doesn’t he have better things to do with his girlfriend? Shouldn’t she be taking care of him and making sure he doesn’t hurt himself even more? So why come find me?”

Jeongin sighed, “well for one thing it’s not right to just invade someone’s privacy and never say sorry for it…”

He had a point. Jisung didn’t care much for it, but he did have a point there. “Yeah okay, whatever,” he huffed.

“Don’t huff at me because I’m probably right,” Jeongin scolded. “Listen, I’m not telling you to go find him yourself and settle things just for the chance that that wasn’t what he was even doing there. But if he _does_ try to at least apologize, hear him out. Okay? Maybe then you’ll never have to speak to him again and you can get over yourself.”

“And if I don’t want to hear him out?”

“Han Jisung I do know how to get inside your room, don’t test me.”

“Like you’ll ever find out if I did do such a thing,” Jisung scoffed.

“Oh? What was that?”

  
  


**Jeongin**

@notyouroppa

@fabulix I have something to tell you

**Felix** @fabulix

Oh? What is it?

  
  


“WAIT, JEONGIN YOU SNAKE!”

Jeongin merely hummed against the receiver of the phone.

“Fine, I promise I’ll do as you said. IF it ever does happen. Even though I’m sure I’m not the reason for him getting there,” Jisung muttered, not at all trying to hide his disapproval for the cheap trick Jeongin tried.

  
  


**Jeongin** @notyouroppa

@fabulix I just wanted to tell you that I love you 🥰💕

**Felix** @fabulix

Awe I love you too, Innie 😘

  
  


“Love you, hyung~” Jeongin gushed from the other end. “Sweet dreams~”

“Yeah yeah…”

“Tell me you love me too, you cheesecake hoe.”

“Ugh, I love you too. You little snake.”

“I made a pinky promise. I was just bluffing. That’s your fault that you fell for it.”

Jisung hung up on Jeongin who he could hear laughing loudly even with the phone being removed from his ear. He couldn’t believe that he got played such a low blow like that.

Sliding his phone back into his pants pocket, Jisung decided to head back towards his dorm. He was sure that Felix would be there waiting for him to get back. Carefully he fit his arms through the sleeves of the soft fleece jacket strewn over him. With his arms by his side, the cuffs hung just below the tip of his pinky. Suddenly he felt smaller than usual. Then again, Seungmin was taller than him by nearly 10cm.

Jisung shoved his hands into the pockets to help ignore the fact that the jacket was big on him as he strolled back to his room. By the time he got back, Felix was completely entranced in his PC game, headset on and all. There wasn’t a chance that he had heard Jisung come in,

Jisung contemplated sneaking up on him as he had done to him, but he remembered the last time he had done that, Felix had knocked him out cold with one kick. He had been out for hours and the entire time Felix had felt so guilty. It was best to not mess with him when he was focused on his game, Jisung decided.

“ _Ah, fuck! That was a cheap shot_ ,” Felix groaned in his thick Australian accent, rubbing his face with his hands harshly out of frustration. “ _I almost had it._ ”

His eyes flicked over to Jisung’s figure off to the corner of the room. He used one hand to push a side of his headset off of his ear before watching his screen again. “Oh Sungie, you’re back. _Shit- hang on_ ,” he paused, fixing the headset back over his ear.

Jisung watched in amusement as Felix’s fingers worked roughly against the keyboard as he tried to finish his current game. It was always entertaining to watch Felix play his online games. The younger tended to get worked up and become a sailor right before his eyes while playing. It was a side that Jisung didn’t see very often.

“ _Ah yes, there we go,_ ” Felix sighed in relief as his team came out as the winner when the time ran out.

Marveling at the screen, Jisung propped his arms up on the back of the gamer’s chair. “Good job, Lix. I see you’re still better than me at this game.”

“Thanks, Sungie,” Felix swiveled around in his chair to look at him after putting his headset up. “You should play more. You’ll get better that way.”

“I never have the time to,” Jisung shrugged then fell silent when he felt like some sort of exhibit on display with the way Felix was staring at him. “What?”

More specifically speaking, Felix was staring at the jacket he wore that was most definitely not his. “Why do you have Hyunjin’s jacket on?”

“Hyun- Oh, no. It’s Seungmin’s,” Jisung corrected only for Felix’s confusion to grow further. “It was getting kind of cold outside with it being night and all so he lent it to me.”

_This is getting to be a bit strange_ , Felix thought to himself as he tried his best to piece things together. First it was with Seungmin bringing Jisung and iced Americano and now Jisung was showing up to their dorm wearing his jacket. Hyunjin hadn’t mentioned anything to him and he wondered if there was a reason for that. He was going to have to be a bit on the bolder side with this one.

“Jisung, is there anything going on with you?”

Jisung blinked. Even though he agreed not to, Jisung wondered if Seungmin really had said something to Felix after all. Why else would he suddenly ask such a question? Just then, he looked down to the jacket then back up to Felix. That had to be it. It was the _only_ thing that it could be.

“What? No. There’s nothing going on with me. I’m all good. Seungmin and I just talked about nothing important. And since I insisted on staying out for a bit longer, he told me to keep his jacket for the time being.”

There was an awkward smile on Jisung’s face as he waited on Felix’s response. Felix’s mouth was pursed closed and his eyebrows furrowed together as he tried his best to make something out of this situation. It just wasn’t quite sitting right with him.

“Is that all?”

Jisung wasn’t sure what he meant by that. All he knew was that his anxiousness was growing. Felix was trying to figure out too much.

“Yes, yes I’m sure that’s all.”

Felix extended his pinky out to him with a daring look, making Jisung bite the inside of his cheek. It had been a huge thing between him, Felix, and Jeongin back in high school that they couldn’t lie or break any promise of a pinky swear.

_Damn it, Felix…_

Trying his best to not look hesitant, Jisung locked his pinky around Felix’s smaller one. Even with this, he couldn’t bare to look him in the eyes until after he had let go. He just knew that he would probably never hear the end of this later when he came clean to Felix about everything that has been going on with him.

  
  


**Felix**

@fabulix

We’ll see...

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> U-2...


	21. Chapter 21

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome back~ Things are starting to turn

* * *

  
( Hey Hyunjin ☺️ Everything good? )

  
  


**Hyunjin**

( Hey Felix! )

( I haven’t had a chance to learn my dance yet, but I should be good by tomorrow )

( I saw that you worked on yours last night, how’d that go? )

  
  


( Really good! )

( Even Minho hyung didn’t have much to say to make it better 🥳 )

  
  


**Hyunjin**

( Ah really? I wonder if he could give me some advice… 🤔 )

  
  


( I think he would. Can’t hurt to ask )

( But anyways, Hyunjin )

( Are you sure everything is fine? )

  
  


**Hyunjin**

( ? What do you mean )

( Is something wrong? )

  
  


( Actually… )

( Ah, never mind. I’ll see you in class 😄 )

  
  


Felix bit at the corner of his lip in thought as he stared at his open messages. The older didn’t seem to have a clue with what he was trying to get at, but then again, Felix was beating around the bush. He didn’t want to stir up something that wasn’t anything if he turned out to be wrong in his hypothesis. But if he were right, he wanted to be able to help out his friend.

Pacing around the room as he waited for Jisung to finish getting ready in the bathroom, Felix pondered what he could do. His eyes fell onto Jisung’s phone that was laying on the bed. That could be a start. After shooting a quick glance to the closed bathroom door to make sure Jisung was still in there, Felix dove for the phone.

Unlocking it with ease, he danced between different apps, making sure to close them out when he was done with each one. It wasn’t like Jisung would necessarily mind him on his phone, but in this case he would prefer the other to not know what he was doing. He wasn’t sure _what_ he was looking for, but he would probably know when he saw it. Unfortunately, he was failing to find any clues to aid him in his detective work. There were no messages between him and Seungmin like he thought there would be.

“You’re so boring, Sungie…” Felix sighed as he closed out of his messages and began to scroll through Jisung’s twitter account. Suddenly his eyes furrowed. It came off as a bit strange to him that the only person he wasn’t following out of their friend group was Minho. He could have sworn that he had been following him before. And his post about being caught along with Jeongin’s post about having to tell him something were around the same time that Jisung was when he called Jeongin last night.

Hearing the bathroom door open, Felix closed out of the app and locked the phone back before throwing it on the bed where he had found it. He wouldn’t need it anymore now that he had something to go off of. There was no stopping him now. He was certain that Jisung was up to something. There was no time for him to ask questions later in the day so he would have to start now. 

The two of them grabbed their bags and headed out of the dorm to have breakfast together before class. Felix played with the strap of his bag as he thought about what he wanted to say.

“You know… Minho hyung showed up last night to the dance studio.”

Jisung nearly tripped over his own feet at the sudden mention of that name. “Oh yeah?” He asked, pretending like he knew nothing about it. “I thought you said he hurt himself?”

Felix nodded his head, taking note of Jisung’s reaction. Though, he couldn’t tell in which way he surprised Jisung. “He did. But he stayed there long enough to give me some feedback on my assignment.”

“It must have been nothing but compliments. You worked really hard.”

A smile crept onto Felix’s face at the compliment. He could always count on his friend to make him bashful like that. Once the two of them got their food and settled at a table, Felix eyed Jisung discreetly. “Perhaps… if you let me, I could try and talk to Minho hyung for you,” he whispered closely to Jisung as if someone would overhear them.

Instantly Jisung started choking on his drink. Looking away, he gave himself some time to get it out. “N-no, don’t do that,” he coughed, waving his hands in front of him.

Blinking, Felix tilted his head slightly. “What? Why not? Sungie, it’s a golden opportunity. I won’t tell him that you actually like him or anything.”

Jisung scoffed under his breath, trying his best to not let it be heard. _That fucker knows very well how I felt about him… There’s no point in telling him yourself. Besides, now it doesn’t matter._

Felix couldn't help but notice the slight change in expression on Jisung’s face. It consisted of a faint smile but he knew there was no happiness behind it whatsoever. He wondered what had happened. Previously, Jisung had been so embarrassed about his crush. Now it was like he had given up on it. But for what reason?

Jisung played around with his thoughts inside his head, swirling them around and around. He thought about what Seungmin and Jeongin had told him last night. The last thing he would do was tell him the full truth. But maybe he could start inching his way towards it. After all, how would he ever completely move on?

“Because, Felix… Maybe… maybe it’s not right.”

Felix’s body froze like a statue. “What’s not right?”

_It’s not right to keep getting my hopes up. It’s not right to chase after someone that has caused me so much stress._

It’s what he wanted to say. He wanted to spill it all out right there, but instead he swallowed his words. It wasn’t the right time or place for it.

_Felix claims to be his friend but he’s even unaware that Minho hyung already has someone. Then again, Minho seems like a secretive person. Still, that isn’t the whole reason for this decision._

“Maybe I’m just not the right person for him. And maybe he’s not the right person for me,” Jisung settled on eventually.

  
  


**Felix**

@fabulix

That’s… not what I was trying to hear

  
  


“What do you mean?”

“It’s not like we ever talked or anything, so it’s fine. Our paths just aren’t meant to cross,” Jisung shrugged. He made sure to carefully word his explanation so that it wouldn’t give anything away but seem like a sound stance on the matter.

Felix gave him an uneven frown. “But will you really give up like that? Don’t get me wrong, Binnie and I didn’t necessarily see each other often. I really only got to be close to him because you were his friend. Don’t you think the same can work for you?”

Jisung played with his hands in his lap, looking down just slightly. He had already given up too much information. There was nothing further he could add to it at this time to make Felix understand. He was touched by the way that Felix was trying to help him. Deep down he thought that Felix and him were too different people. Felix was able to bring out the good in others and supply endless amounts of happiness to them. And Jisung? He couldn’t think the same for himself. After being immensely embarrassed, he decided that the route he was going down was a dead end.

“Lix, I think the two of you are perfect for each other. If I believed in destiny, you two would be it. But that doesn’t go for everyone. Don’t worry, I’ll be fine. Okay?” Jisung reached out to tap the top of Felix's hand with his own before standing up. “I’m going to class, I’ll see you later tonight.”

  
  


**Felix**

@fabulix

Oh darn it. This isn’t good

**Changbin** @spearb

What isn’t good?

**Felix** @fabulix

@spearb This weather. It looks like it’s going to storm soon

  
  


Without much of a second thought, Jisung found himself entering the campus library after his classes. It was the same time period as when he went in to do his school work before so he had a good feeling he would find who he was looking for there. 

In no time he was able to find the familiar face of Seungmin sitting at one of the many tables in the center of the room. It was only him there with his earbuds in and his notebook and textbook in front of him. He was twirling his pen around his fingers as he studied whatever was in the textbook in front of him.

Warily Jisung maneuvered through the tables, not liking having to go through so many people to get to his destination. He wasn’t a fan of so many groups of people. At least once he was there he would feel more at ease.

Silently and without warning, Jisung crept up behind Seungmin and stole one of the earbuds out of his ears, fitting it into his own. This startled the younger boy who had been too focused on his work and music to even begin to notice his presence behind him. He tried to reach for the earbud back but Jisung was quicker with putting a hand over his ear to refrain him from retrieving it.

The sound of a soft melody and what Jisung thought was Seungmin’s voice flooded into his ear. It was peaceful. It was definitely something that you could study to without getting too distracted. Seungmin’s voice was smooth against the instrument aspects of a song that Jisung found to be very familiar. With what it was worth, he couldn’t help but to favor this version over the original. With wide eyes, Jisung looked back at the flustered boy in shock. “Is this you?”

The tips of Seungmin’s ears were already a faint shade of red. Clicking on his phone, he tapped on the pause button to abruptly cut off the song playing.

“Gosh, Jisung. You scared me senseless.”

Jisung handed back the earbud before pulling up a chair beside him and planting himself down in it. “That was you singing, wasn’t it?” His eyes were still twinkling as he leaned forward to get an answer.

“I- yeah, that was me…” Seungmin admitted through a light exhale. “It’s a cover of a song, but it’s not done yet. That was just the trial run.”

“ _Wow…_ ” Jisung’s mouth hung slightly open. He was beyond impressed. And it was just a trial run? Jisung could have sworn that it sounded like an angel singing rehearsed into his ear. He hadn’t imagined Seungmin could sound like that. Now that he really thought about it, his singing voice matched really well with his soft appearance. “Seungmin, that was beautiful. I didn’t know you sang like that.”

Seungmin rubbed the back of his neck timidly. The last thing he expected was for Jisung to show up and shower him in compliments for a cover song that wasn’t even finalized. “Thanks, Jisung. That really means a lot coming from you.”

“Coming from me?” Jisung repeated. “Shit… I don’t sound that good singing at all.”

A small chuckle escaped Seungmin. He thought it was crazy that Jisung thought that way even though he’s heard how he can control his voice. “We each have our own styles. Give yourself more credit. But anyways, what are you doing here?”

Jisung blinked once, his mind going blank. What _was_ he doing there again? He looked at his hand where he had smudged Hangul written just below the base of his pointer finger. He knew he would have forgotten his reason to come here if he hadn’t written himself a reminder. “Oh. Right,” he quipped as he pulled open his bag to fish out Seungmin’s jacket that had been neatly folded and tucked away inside. He offered it out with both hands, the soft fleece rubbing against his touch. “Thanks again for lending it to me.”

Fingers lightly brushing against Jisung’s, Seungmin accepted his jacket back with a smile. “It was really no problem.”

Jisung’s hands lingered in the air for a moment after the jacket had already left his hold. Gently he set them clasped together in his lap. For some reason he seemed to shrink in size. “Also there’s another thing,” he added with his voice lower this time.

“Hm?”

“I uh… thought about what you said last night. Again, I’m _really_ sorry I lied to hyung about where my notebook was,” he apologized in his most sincere voice. “I don’t like lying, even if it’s over something small like that. I feel terrible for it. But I want you to know that I started to let Felix in on some things.”

“I’m proud of you.” Seungmin’s voice was calm yet warm at the same time and it was more than enough to make Jisung ease up inside. The look in his eyes was also kind. “I know it’s probably hard for you to open up, but I know you’ll get there when the time is right.”

Looking at his hands in his lap, Jisung nodded slowly. “I’m sorry I can’t straight out say what it is right now, but even with this much you’ve helped me a lot. So thank you for that. Though… honestly, I have a feeling you know a lot more than I like to let myself believe,” he thought, studying him curiously with a hint of nervousness.

Seungmin offered him nothing but a simple shrug. It was most definitely not helpful in the slightest for Jisung trying to figure out what he knew. He thought long and hard about how Seungmin would know anything in the first place. Aside from Jisung’s more or less obvious strange behavior, how could there possibly be any signs that something was up?

_He knows I lied about where I found my notebook and that it was the cause for why I was so distressed. But could he possibly know that it was Minho hyung that had it? How could he? Do the two even talk? He DID hint at how I don’t let people talk to avoid tension. But maybe he was just referring to Felix… Then again, he did overhear me questioning why Minho suddenly appeared._

Jisung’s head pounded as a whirlwind of thoughts blew around his mind. It felt like it just might burst if he kept it up. Jisung didn’t know what to think anymore. His mind was a complete mess that was far off the board from being able to get organized. Seungmin seemed too innocent to have any intentions that weren’t for just helping him feel better, but at the same time he knew that the younger was extremely intelligent. If he were being honest with himself, he did believe that Seungmin knew everything. At least, everything apart from the fact that Minho read Jisung’s feelings for him in his notebook. That would be the only impossible part of knowing unless they read it themself or if Minho told them.

In the end, Jisung gave up caring about it. It would be less painful this way. Even though he had been trying so hard to hide everything, he felt like he could trust Seungmin with this. With his help, he was learning how to get over himself.

“I guess it doesn’t really matter if you do or not at this point,” Jisung sighed out, relaxing against the back of the hard back to his seat. “The damage is already done and over with.”

“You’re starting to take this pretty well.”

Jisung shrugged his shoulders lazily. “If it’s you, I guess it’s alright.”

Seungmin eyed him curiously as Jisung leaned his head back with his eyes closed. Looking away again, he chewed the inside of his cheek. He shook his head to himself, flicking his pen around his fingers once again.

  
  


**Seungmin**

@songmin

There’s still some time

**Seungmin** @songmin

Hopefully

**Hyunjin** @hwangjin

There will be

  
  


After their shared class together, Felix lightly caught Hyunjin by the arm to stop him from leaving the room. After his conversation with Jisung this morning, he had nothing else on his mind except for what he had said. It wasn’t sitting right with him at all and he couldn’t let himself stay quiet around Hyunjin.

“Hyung. Sorry, but I’m a bit worried.”

Hyunjin stopped in his tracks of leaving and instead leaned up against the table. His head tilted in slight confusion as he looked down at the boy who had stayed in his seat. There was a definite look of concern on his face that made him give Felix his full attention. He offered him a small, comforting smile. “Felix, you said even Minho hyung didn’t tell you to do much of anything different. What’s there to be worried about?”

Felix pulled his mouth into a hard, thin line. Shaking his head he explained, “no, that’s not what I’m talking about. You can’t _not_ know.”

Hyunjin blinked, not understanding what he meant. “Not know what?”

“There’s something going on with Jisung and Seungmin. I feel it.”

“Well, yeah, there’s definitely something going on with them,” Hyunjin agreed, nodding his head nonchalantly.

Felix stared at him in bewilderment. “What? So you already knew? And you’re alright with that?” There was nothing but disbelief in his voice. How was Hyunjin acting so calm about this?

“Of course I knew,” Hyunjin informed simply. “I’m helping.”

“ _HUH?_ ”

  
  


**Felix**

@fabulix

That’s it. This is all a dream.

**Changbin** @spearb

Am I in it?

**Minho** @meowho

@spearb That’s not a dream, that’s a nightmare

  
  


**Changbin**

@spearb

I can never get away from him…

**Minho** @meowho

Ditto

**Chan** @cbang

Both of you are annoying 🤦

  
  


**Changbin**

@spearb

RIP ☠️

  
  


Even though Felix was already sitting down, he felt like he was going to fall or pass out. He felt lightheaded. He slapped his hand lightly against his cheek twice to make sure he was actually awake. The feeling of his palm against his face was a sure sign that he was indeed conscious.

“Don’t worry, it’s all going to be okay. We just need the right time,” Hyunjin assured with a hand on Felix’s shoulder. “Listen, I’ve got to go now, but I’ll see you tomorrow in dance. Look forward to it!”

  
  


_Right time for what? Seungmin and Jisung getting together? I can’t let that happen._

Disoriented, Felix watched as Hyunjin headed out. First it was Jisung giving up and now Hyunjin? Let alone Hyunjin was _helping_ Jisung and Seungmin? If he hadn’t just heard the conversation, he wouldn’t have believed it. To be honest, he still had a hard time _to_ believe it. There was no way this was happening. Not on his watch.

  
  


**Felix**

@fabulix

Something is in the air.

**Jisung** @hansome

Rain? ☔️

  
  


**Minho**

@meowho

What is up with these tweets

**Changbin** @spearb

When will you deactivate 😒

  
  


Rain banged against the hard roof of the building that Felix occupied. Streams of water droplets raced down all sides of the building’s glass windows. He had called for a storm, but this hadn’t been what he meant.

With his last class of the day getting cancelled, he found himself wading towards the lounge area. Instead of trying to run through the rain to get to the library or even his dorm for a computer, he figured it would just be better to wait out the storm. His paper would just have to wait a little bit longer. At least he had a little bit longer to work on it now.

The room was lined with L-shaped couches and low square tables placed in the middle of them for students to kick their feet up on or set their stuff down on. It was a place people loitered while waiting for their next class or just to casually talk to their friends.

The room was scarce of anyone save for a few people. On one side of the room sat everyone except for one. Much to his pleasure he found a lonesome Changbin laying on his back with his bag under his head to serve as a pillow. He was nearly taking up an entire section of the couch. His legs were bent up close to him and his hands were resting inside of his hoodie pockets.

Inching closer to the boy, Felix deduced that he had fallen asleep while listening to music. His earbuds were hidden just under the hood pulled over his head. The peaceful expression of Changbin’s sleeping face sent butterflies swirling around in Felix’s stomach.

_He’s so cute like that… I kind of hate to wake him up._

His eyes moved to the table just to the side of him that had his laptop sitting on its surface. Suddenly he had more than enough motivation to wake the sleeping boy. Carefully he moved in between the table and couch until he was crouched just beside Changbin’s head. Gently he reached out and took one of the earbuds out of his ears.

Changbin’s hand shot out from inside his pocket and took a firm hold around Felix’s wrist, not giving him a chance to free it. Felix froze in his spot, not having expected him to have such fast reflexes. He couldn’t help but to find that to be very attractive, but he wouldn’t tell him that.

It was only until Changbin opened his eyes and saw who it was that he immediately retracted his hand. Hurriedly sitting up, Changbin pulled the other earbud out of his ear. “Oh, Felix. I didn’t know it was you. You scared me. Sorry, did I hurt you?”

Shaking his head, Felix gave him an apologetic smile. “Sorry about that. I didn’t know how else to wake you without scaring you.”

Changbin’s expression turned into that of a slightly devious smirk. “A kiss would have been nice,” he halfly joked in a voice that wouldn’t be overheard by anyone but the one crouched next to him.

Ears turning a faint shade of pink, Felix looked away in embarrassment at the sudden thought. “Y-you know that would have scared you just the same, if not more,” he stammered out, looking away to the rest of the room.

Though there were just a few other people around, they were all preoccupied with other things that weren’t Changbin or Felix. The two of them seemed to be the last thing that they were concerned about with the way they looked nowhere close to their direction. Felix was too shy to openly do much of anything in front of others, but as long as he was sure no one was watching, he could go for it.

Placing one hand on the couch beside Changbin’s left leg and his other on the firm space between the boy’s knee and thigh, Felix pushed himself up and forward until he met Changbin’s lips. He couldn’t help but to hold his breath. It was a quick kiss but it was as soft as ever. Pulling away just a tad, Felix opened his eyes again to watch Changbin frozen in place. He knew that the older really hadn’t expected him to do that at all.

A satisfied and winning look appeared on Felix, his eyes squinting with a wide smile to match it.

“Bin?”

“Yes?” Changbin’s voice cracked

“Can I borrow your laptop?”

  
  


**Changbin**

@spearb

My laptop, my money, my clothes, have all of it 🙇

**Minho** @meowho

Send some my way

  
  


**Minho**

@meowho

He really blocked me-

  
  


Changbin had practically shoved his laptop fully unlocked into Felix’s hands without a second thought about it. He told him to use it for as long as he pleased. 

Felix had gratefully accepted it and made himself comfortable with it sitting on his crossed-legged lap. Now he wouldn’t have to wait for the rain to stop to get to a computer to do his paper. He was thankful to the rain for leading him here. Not only could he get his work done well on time, but he also got to spend time with Changbin as he worked on it. It was a win-win.

Changbin on the other hand took it upon himself to use Felix’s shoulder as a pillow; his pointer finger lightly rubbing against his lower lip as he thought about the short kiss. The only reason he was there in the first place was because he didn’t feel like getting wet in the heavy rain outside to get back to Chan’s dorm. If anything, he preferred this napping spot. He lazily switched between resting his eyes to watching the younger do his work, enjoying the way that he worded his papers. It was only when Felix had been stuck on the same sentence for the past five minutes with the text bar blinking boredly that he glanced up at him.

Felix’s expression was that of a more or less serious one. One that showed he was not aware of anything happening before his eyes. It was clear that he had been lost in thought but not on his paper with the way he was staring out into the abyss in front of him somewhere.

“Lix?”

“Huh.” Felix snapped back into consciousness, looking over at Changbin. “Sorry, what?”

“You’ve been on the same sentence for the past five minutes.”

Looking back at the screen, he realized that he had completely lost his train of thought. He quickly typed out an ending to the last sentence and inserted a period, calling it good. Revision later would definitely be needed.

“Let me ask you something.”

“Anything,” Changbin answered, sitting up on his own now.

“ _Hypothetically speaking_ ,” Felix emphasized to no end, “say we never got together.”

“I already don’t like where this is going,” Changbin frowned with furrowed brows.

“No, no, just hear me out. I’m not breaking up with you or anything, I promise.” Felix held one of Changbin’s hands in both of his gingerly. “This is _purely_ hypothetical. So say we never got together. You still like me in this scenario. But say your friend began to like me at the same time you do. And say I _might_ start to catch feelings for them. What do you do? Do you help me and that person get together?”

Changbin kept the look of confusion on his face for what felt like an eternity. “Felix, have you been drinking? Of course I wouldn’t help anyone get to you. I don’t care who it is, I want you for myself. Why would you even ask such a silly thing?”

He would have to be out of his mind for him to even consider letting someone else get to Felix. Even though the younger initially thought he was scary and hurt his feelings a bit with those statements, he never even dreamed of stopping. _He_ was the one getting help and he wouldn’t dare have it be the other way around.

Felix rubbed the top of Changbin’s hand with his thumbs as he contemplated. “I’m just a bit confused is all… I want to know why someone would help do that knowing they would end up hurt.”

The older didn’t have a clue about what he meant, but knew something was bothering him. He couldn’t stand the sight of seeing him downcasted like this so he offered a bit of wisdom. “You can’t always bet on people to think the same as me. If I had to guess, maybe that person who is helping wants the person they like to be happy regardless of their own feelings. Some people would sacrifice themselves like that in such scenarios.”

Felix looked up and into his dark eyes with a sad expression, resembling that of a lost kitten. Was Hyunjin sacrificing his own feelings in order to let Seungmin be happy? That _was_ a Pisces thing to do. The entire situation was wearing away at his heart. He didn’t like where this was going.

  
  


**Changbin**

@spearb

Alright, which one of you is making Felix sad 🤬 I’m taking names

**Changbin** @spearb

Everyone stay in your own lane

**Jeongin** @notyouroppa

I’m on my way to beat up someone 😤

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m really surprised that one certain thing hasn’t been mentioned by anyone yet (｀・ω・´)
> 
> U-1


	22. Chapter 22

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh wow, 5.5k hits?? Thanks so much guys ❤︎

* * *

Jisung had just stepped out of the shower, towel wrapped tightly around his waist as he exited the bathroom. Leaving the door open, steam from his hot shower blew out into the rest of the cool dorm room. He was hovering over his drawers, rummaging for fresh clothes to wear. The sound of the lock on their door starting to rattle softly was drowned out by Jisung’s soft singing voice. He didn’t realize someone was there until the door flew open.

  
  


**Jisung**

@hansome

OH MY GOD SOMEONE HELP ME

**Seungmin** @songmin

???

**Chan** @cbang

Spider?

  
  


**Jisung**

@hansome

ACTUALLY WAIT DONT- I DONT HAVE ANY CLOTHES ON

**Seungmin** @songmin

???!?!

**Changbin** @spearb

Kinky much?

**Chan** @cbang

I wouldn’t advise killing spiders without clothes on. They might bite you somewhere you don’t want them to 💀

  
  


**Changbin**

@spearb

It’s been 20 minutes of silence…

  
  


**Felix**

@fabulix

I just got a noise complaint call but I’m not even in my room?

**Changbin** @spearb

…. uh, Jisung?

  
  


**Felix**

@fabulix

OH NO

**Felix** @fabulix

Wait that can’t be it either because he tweeted too 🤨

**Chan** @cbang

Who?

**Felix** @fabulix

@cbang never mind

  
  


**Felix**

@fabulix

UNLESS?

  
  


Jisung was pinned down to the floor on his stomach with Jeongin lazily sitting on his bare, damp back. The younger had seemingly picked the lock and let himself in, going straight for the unsuspecting boy dressed in a now loose towel.

“Innie, _please_. I haven’t even seen Felix since this morning. How could I have been the one to make him sad?”

After many failed attempts of struggling to get free, Jisung had given up all hope of trying to get Jeongin off of him. Even the request of permission to put on clothes had been shot down. At this point all he could do was make a pillow for his head out of his arms and wait for Jeongin to let him up by his own decision.

“You’re talented like that,” Jeongin shrugged simply. “Give me one good reason I should get off you.”

“How about, I’m naked?”

“You act like I’ve never seen you naked before,” Jeongin deadpanned. “You’ve got a nice body though, hyung. Have you been working out more?” He cooed, slapping the tone muscles around Jisung’s shoulder blades, water bouncing off in the process.

Jisung groaned into his arms. He couldn’t believe that Jeongin _actually_ showed up all the way to his room at the first mention that someone was making Felix sad. And with knowing that Jisung would have been the very first to stop someone from making Felix sad, Jeongin could only think of him to be the reason behind it.

The door creaked open slowly, a cautious Felix poking his head in the crack to peek inside. Once he saw who was inside, he swung it open all the way. There was a look of relief on his face that was soon replaced with perplexity.

“Jeongin?”

“Lixie hyung! Long time no see!” Jeongin waved his arm wide above his head to him. There was a toothy smile on his face, making it look like he was the perfect picture of innocence despite the fact that he was sitting on their friend.

Felix slowly closed the door behind him before making his way towards them. He set his bag down in one of the chairs and scratched his head at the scene he had walked in on. To say the least, he was glad it wasn’t what he had imagined. “Please don’t take this the wrong way because I’m happy to see you again, but why are you here?”

“He saw Changbin hyung’s tweet and thinks I’m the one that made you sad. So he came here to teach me a lesson,” Jisung answered from the floor.

Felix’s mouth formed an o-shape as he began to understand. He found it to be a bit amusing and heart warming that Jeongin came all the way here just for him. Reaching his hands out, he helped Jeongin to stand so that Jisung could be free.

“Put some clothes on, Jisung,” Felix instructed Jisung before he led Jeongin by the hands to sit on the couch. “I think it’s time that we all talk.”

Jisung pushed himself up, catching his towel and fixing it back around his waist before it completely fell. He stretched and rolled his arms out, trying to get the feeling back in them. “Ah finally. I’ve been trying to get dressed for who knows how long now.”

Felix watched him go into the room to get changed before he pushed a chair in front of the couch until it was facing it. There he sat and waited for Jisung to come out of the room.

  
  


**Jisung**

@hansome

Why do I feel like I’m back in my high school’s teacher’s room when I did something bad?

**Changbin** @spearb

You’re the one causing noise complaint calls to Felix

**Jisung** @hansome

@spearb That wasn’t my fault entirely 😭

  
  


**Changbin**

@spearb

He’s wild 🥴

  
  


**Minho**

@meowho

👀😟

  
  


**Minho**

@meowho

Oh wait the dark one unblocked me

**Changbin** @spearb

Damn it, that must have been Felix when he was on my laptop earlier 😓

**Minho** @meowho

Thank you @fabulix

**Felix** @fabulix

😸

  
  


After building a security shield out of pillows; sectioning off either side of the couch, Jisung finally allowed himself to sit comfortably. He couldn’t trust Jeongin to not come after him during this confrontation. At least this way he would have a bit of cushion for if Jeongin did try something.

“So you’re probably wondering why I have you gathered here today,” Felix started off as if he were some higher up in a business meeting.

“No, I know,” Jeongin commented as he eyed Jisung to the side. “Jisung made you sad and we’re here to fix that.”

Felix opened his mouth, but closed it shortly after. Jeongin wasn’t wrong but he wasn’t entirely correct either. Looking down, he played with his hands in his lap.

“You’re almost there. Jisung is a part of it, but not entirely.”

Jisung fell still at that. Had he really been the reason? He couldn’t think of what he could have possibly done. He felt Felix’s eyes fall onto him, gaining his full attention. If he were going to make up for anything, he would have to start behaving and letting people talk just as Seungmin told him.

“Sungie, you know I _really_ care about you and want nothing but the world for you, right?” When Jisung gave him but a simple nod, he continued. “I’m saying this now before anything else happens. And I mean this in the _nicest_ way possible,” he stressed. “Please only see Seungmin as a friend.”

  
  


**Jisung**

@hansome

😓

  
  


It was said as bluntly as possible so Jisung couldn’t even dare to try to miss the point of this.

Jeongin’s head snapped towards Jisung. “Seungmin,” he repeated. “The one from just recently?”

Felix gave the younger a curious look. It hadn’t occurred to him that Jeongin would have been informed about anything concerning this situation. Then again, he was the one that Jisung called and ran away to. He couldn’t help but to feel a little left out in everything.

“We just talked,” Jisung reminded with a bit of emphasis in his voice. He didn’t want Felix to think he had been doing anything. His gaze was set on the baseboard that was on the opposite end of the room that was saving him from Felix’s probing look. “I’m not saying that I do see him as more, but why is that what’s bothering you?”

Deep down, he couldn’t help but to feel a bit hurt at the thought of Felix to be so bothered with such a thing. There was no understanding to him with why he even looked at him like he had lost his mind when he had told Felix about giving up on Minho earlier. Jisung was trying to better himself and be happy, but it didn’t seem like anything wanted to line up with that desire.

Felix pursed his lips together. It really wasn’t his business to tell, but he didn’t know any other way of putting it in a way where he would be sure that Jisung would understand. He had no other choice. “I can’t let you do that to Hyunjin.”

Jisung moved his eyes up to look at Felix in a bit of shock. It was clear that he didn’t know. Hugging his stomach, it felt like his insides were turning all around. Guilt began to eat away at him.

“I don’t like the thought of him forsaking his feelings to make someone happy. I don’t think it’s fair,” Felix explained gently.

Jisung couldn’t help but to find a bit of irony in that fact as Felix was asking him to do just that. _If_ he even did feel that way in the first place. His mind was such a mess he didn’t know what he knew for a fact anymore. Everything this far has been a curveball for him. But he understood what Felix meant and he couldn’t argue against it.

After exhaling a defeated sigh, Jisung put his arms down comfortably by his sides on the couch cushions. “I’m sorry I worried you, Lix. I promise that I won’t give you anymore bad signals,” he said before getting up and walking over to him. He took his hand and pulled him out of the chair, using his other hand to beckon Jeongin. “Come on, let's go eat to forget about everything. I’ll even buy.” At least with food he would be able to get away from the topic.

  
  


**Jeongin**

@notyouroppa

Jisung buying us food? I knew I was meant to come here all along 🤤

  
  


With everything cleared up, Felix was able to comfortably and confidently perform his dance assignment in class the next morning. Even though he wasn’t planning for it, the extra time he learned earned him a few bonus points on his grade. With that he was able to receive above 100 points total.

“That was clever of you to learn more than you were supposed to,” Hyunjin complimented once the class was over. “Still though you did amazing.”

Sheepishly Felix rubbed the back of his head. “Thanks hyung. I had only done it because I wanted to, not because I thought I would get extra credit for it. But you did really good too. Probably the best here.”

Hyunjin waved a hand in front of him, not accepting that. “I won’t go that far, but thanks for thinking that.”

The two of them grabbed their bags and began to exit the room.

“By the way, is Jisung okay? He seemed quiet today. Seungmin didn’t get anything out of him, but I know you would know more than anyone.”

“Sungie? He’s alright. Last night he stayed up late with Jeongin so he didn’t get much sleep,” Felix explained. There was a line of a smile on his face at the thought of the night before. He wanted to tell Hyunjin the good news of not having to help anymore when he noticed Minho approaching them. “Good morning, hyung. What are you doing here?”

“I’ve been bored out of my mind so I came to watch you two. It looked like both of you took my advice.”

“Thanks for helping us, hyung,” Hyunjin thanked with a slight bow. “You always know the right things to do.”

Minho let out a breath of a laugh at that. He wished he always knew the right things to do, but sadly he had been messing up lately. At least he could help other people in a way.

“I wouldn’t say that, but it is my responsibility to guide you both. Well… I decided that anyway, so I’ll try hard with it.”

Felix couldn’t help but to hug the older in admiration. “We won’t let you down.”

He felt so special with having someone so talented in his major look after him and make sure that he was doing well. With Minho, he knew he would be able to make it to the top.

  
  


**Felix**

@fabulix

Minho hyung is so nice 😭

**Changbin** @spearb

Felix baby, we need to get you to a doctor

**Minho** @meowho

@spearb Always after me 😒

  
  


**Chan**

@cbang

Those two are more cringey together than Changbin is with Felix

**Hyunjin** @hwangjin

Double kill 💀

**Changbin** @spearb

😿

  
  


The rest of the week consisted of Jisung staying out of all school locations apart from his classes. He kept his mind busy with his music that he would work on while at an off campus café and isolated spots around the campus at night. He was starting to miss his homey studio room in the performance building but he dared not to go back. At least not for a while longer.

Though he tried not to make it seem suspicious, his socialization decreased in his classes. Avoiding Seungmin was added to his list of things to do. He didn’t let himself be alone with the younger for any longer than he needed to. The excuse of just being tired from working on music all night was always there with him. It wasn’t a lie by any means. Music had been the only thing he had been doing for the past few days. With the week’s classes finished, he would finally be able to reset himself so that he could come back stronger minded.

He had been thinking nonstop about everything. Everything from finding his notebook to his conversations with Jeongin, Seungmin, and Felix. He had reminded himself of why he was here at this school. The goal was to make lasting friendships but also hone his skills enough so he could make it in the world. Up to this point he hadn’t done as well of a job as he liked with producing and writing. Despite joining 3RACHA, he knew there was still a lot of work for him to do if he wanted to make it. Sitting around with bad feelings wasn't going to get him far.

As the sun was setting and before Felix even got back to the dorm, Jisung took up his guitar, slung it over his back and headed out. Walking down a path on the outskirts of the campus, Jisung went to a spot where he knew not many people would frequent after a certain hour. People would more than likely take a branched off path to get to the shopping and food district away from the campus.

On one side of the sidewalk was a long line of a stone wall, the top of it being the edge of a grassy hill. Its height met that of just above the base of Jisung’s neck, making it an easy task for him to scale and sit atop it. He watched the view he had of the sky for a while, taking it all in. The dark pink colors that bled throughout the setting sky was calming to him. He inhaled a deep breath and let it out slower than it had come. His goal was to clear his mind tonight.

Jisung slid the guitar around by the neck until it came to rest in front of him. Running the back of his nails against the chords once, he tested out the strings. He had just tuned it a few days ago so it didn’t need it again for now. Placing his right hand into his pocket, he pulled out his guitar pic and played around with it in between his fingers, feeling out the triangular shape of it. Strategically he placed the fingers of his left hand against the neck’s chords and began to calmly strum out a soft melody.

  
  


[ location attached ]

  
  


**Minho hyung**

( ? )

  
  


( go )

( there’s something there )

  
  


**Minho hyung**

( What is it? )

  
  


( thank me later )

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 🤔  
> *sorry for the shortness


	23. Chapter 23

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh my goodness, I cannot tell you how much it has pained me not being able to post this chapter yet ＿|￣|○ I have planned this out for the past three months now or so and I’ve been dying to post it. I’m not very good at keeping secrets like this (^_^;)
> 
> I reeeaally hope that you guys like it. I thought I was so clever putting all of this together. In it I was able to answer a lot of questions you all have, but not all of them.

* * *

  
Minho didn’t understand why he got a message telling him to go someplace on campus late at night. It wasn’t that he was necessarily busy or anything. He was on his last leg of being stuck in his room with nothing to do except lounge around. Maybe it was because he was genuinely curious about the ‘thank me later’ part that he found himself pulling on a hoodie and locking his door behind him before taking the elevator down to the ground floor.

With his phone out, he followed the direction of the location sent to him the best he could. Before he could even see what it was, he heard the enchanting music strummed out by Jisung’s guitar partnered by his soft singing voice. Instantly he knew.

  
  


**Minho**

@meowho

Finally.

  
  


**Minho hyung**

( Thank you )

  
  


( 😇 )

  
  


Instantly Minho replaced his phone into his pocket before gradually approaching the boy. He didn’t want to interrupt his session so he waited off to the side out of his peripherals until Jisung’s right hand came to rest and the night fell silent. With the lack of music and only white noise to fill its shoes, Minho’s heart rate began to quicken.

After weeks of trying to find the boy, the sight of finally having him alone worked at his nerves. His legs seemed to not want to move beneath him as if they had turned to lead. Paranoia told him that this would end up horribly, but his heart told him to stop acting like a coward. Taking in a deep breath and exhaling again, Minho clenched his fists to ready himself before he managed to start walking again. He couldn’t mess this up.

The streetlight shone a dim glow over and around Jisung’s figure. It was as if he were in a video game and the light was the destination marker telling him, go here, this is where you have to be. With his head bowed, he was casually sitting there on the stone wall with his arms propped up on either end of his guitar.

“You must be the jack of all trades,” Minho guessed, announcing his presence before he fully made it to him. “What can’t you do?”

Dropping his guitar pic to the ground by accident and out of surprise, Jisung’s head shot up at the sudden voice. He already knew who it belonged to before he could even focus his eyes on Minho’s dark silhouette that gradually walked into the light of the streetlight he was under.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you,” Minho apologized, stopping down to retrieve the fallen guitar pic. Instead of giving it back, he played with it in his hands. It worked as something like an anxiety-calming mechanism.

Jisung looked at him with narrow eyes. It was clear that he wasn’t honored to see him, but yet he stood still in his spot. “What is it, hyung?” It came out with a bit of an annoyed tone that he played off as just from him getting interrupted. Even though the fact was he had been taking a break when Minho walked up. Truth was, he just didn’t want to see the boy.

Minho made sure to keep his distance of a couple meters from him so he didn’t come off as strong. “You’ve been avoiding me like the plague.” It was said as casually as humanly possible.

“I haven’t been avoiding you,” Jisung lied.

Minho watched him closely. “You think I haven’t noticed the fact that you specifically haven’t been going to that production booth you like so much just because it’s on the same floor as the dance studio rooms? Or the way I know you saw me with Felix and ran for the hills?”

Although he was far from being calm on the inside, his voice was steady and at a normal volume. He wanted to prove he knew Jisung was for a matter of fact avoiding him, but he didn’t want to seem pushy. Being too aggressive would not do him any good.

“I was with Seungmin.”

“I know for a fact Seungmin wasn’t the one that drug you with him.” It came off as a bit more stern than he had meant to and he was already kicking himself for it.

Jisung didn’t know how he would know that as a fact other than his own strong avoidance factor going for him, but still he was already tired of this. He just wanted to get this over with. “What do you  _ want _ , hyung?”

Minho closed his mouth softly, trying his best to gather his words in a way that wouldn’t set Jisung off. He only had this one chance. “I never got the chance to apologize to you.”

“You’re in luck,” Jisung cheered, making Minho perk up only to cause him to deflate once more. “I don’t need it. So save your breath.”

“Jisung,  _ please _ .” Minho begged, daring to inch closer to him. It wasn’t but a single step, but he felt like he had already gotten too close for the others comfort. He stayed stagnant, clutching onto the pic in his hand for any ounce of courage it could offer to him. “If you hear me out now, I promise I will leave you alone if that’s what you want.”

“I just don’t get it with you,” Jisung scoffed. “I didn’t even tell anyone about what happened so why are you so hung up on wanting to talk to me?”

Remembering that fact, Minho paused. Jisung really never did tell anyone what happened. “Why was that? Why didn’t you say anything?”

Did it really even matter to him? Jisung couldn’t think of a reason that it would be of any importance to him in the first place. Whatever it was, he decided to answer anyway. “Even though I resented you for what you did, it didn’t give me the right to tarnish your reputation with your friends. Especially with the way I know how much Felix looks up to you and respects you, I didn’t want him to lose his role model.”

Minho looked like a deer in headlights. It was even more so resembling of that with the way he already had doe eyes. He hadn’t expected that answer at all. It felt like someone had just sent a fist straight through his gut. His knees began to feel weak at the level of thoughtfulness in the explanation, but somehow he managed to miraculously keep himself steady.

The fact of Jisung having a strong distaste for him was well known to him. Hearing that he deliberately protected his name and reputation amongst his friends affected him to the core. Explaining himself right here and now was his first priority, but the only issue was: would Jisung let him?

Jisung silently watched his hyung mentally struggle. Suddenly Seungmin and Jeongin’s voices began to replay in his head; telling him that the least he could do was not run away and give Minho a chance to say his peace. After all, the appealing offer of Minho leaving him alone after this was still on the table.

With a heavy sigh, Jisung pulled the strap of his guitar off of him and lightly propped it up against the stonewall he was sitting on and the ground.

“What are you doing?”

“I’m giving you my full attention,” Jisung replied as he set his hands back in the soft grass behind him so he could rest himself on his arms. “You’ll leave me alone if I hear you out, right?” He asked, looking down at him with an angled gaze. The position that he was in was a bit overwhelming for Minho. The way he was towering over him with that awaiting look on his face intimidated him. “So then tell me,  _ why _ did you steal my notebook, read it, and then go so far as to translate the English parts of it?”

“I did it thinking of Felix.”

It came out faster than Minho could even think about how that sounded. A hand flew to his mouth but he couldn’t push the words back into it. Jisung already heard it and he was ticked. Minho could feel the heat of the fire forming in Jisung’s eyes from where he stood. No longer leaning back, he began to lean towards him as if he were going to go for him.

“If you think I’m going to sit here and let you blame my  _ best friend _ for what you did-“

“No, wait! Wait!” Minho extended his hands out in a plea to make Jisung stay where he was. “Please! I’m sorry! That came out wrong, I didn’t mean it like that. Just let me explain. I’ll tell you everything.”

Jisung was furious to the point that he could attack him right there, but the desperation in Minho’s voice kept him put. After a moment of staring the older down, he let himself lean back again. “You have five seconds to start trying to convince me.”

Minho let out a nervous sigh, trying to recollect his composure. He had already messed up. This would be his last chance.

  
  


_ It was back on the day that Minho got back from promoting. The same day that 3RACHA and Felix went out together. Minho had received a good amount of money from having been a backup dancer through the entire promotion and wanted to treat Chan and Changbin out somewhere to celebrate him finishing it. _

_ Knowing that Chan always kept his door unlocked, Minho didn’t waste time on knocking before letting himself in the room. _

_ “Hyuuuuung! I’m back,” he called out but never heard a response. “Chan hyung? Changbin?” _

_ He checked all around the dorm in wonder if they were just sleeping, but found the place to be empty. Frowning at his bad timing, he crossed his arms at his chest. Allowing himself some time to wait and see if they would come back, he lounged around in the meantime. _

_ “Oh, have they been working on some new stuff?” He questioned as he noticed Chan and Changbin’s laptops out along with Jisung’s notebook. He didn’t bother trying for Chan’s laptop, knowing full and well how overly protected that thing is. Instead he went for the notebook laying beside Changbin’s laptop. _

_ He had always been a huge supporter of his producer friends. Oftentimes he would try out samples of what they were working on to give them an outsider's feedback. He didn’t know much about making music or writing lyrics, but the two producers still appreciated and asked for his opinion. _

_ He flopped down on the couch with it, flipping through its pages. “What has our Binnie been up to? Maybe writing poetry for Felix since he still hasn’t worked up enough courage to just ask him on a date?” He had completely mistaken the ownership of the notebook. The thought that Jisung had been there and the chance it was actually his hadn’t crossed his mind at all. _

_ “Seriously, I know I give Changbin a hard time, but his writing is amazing,” Minho complimented aloud despite the person in question not being around to hear it. He slowly flipped through its pages, admiring the way that everything was written. “Wait, What is this?” _

  
  


≪ L M H ≫

  
  


_ He had stumbled on the page dedicated to him. No matter how he tried to put it, L M H could mean nothing else except for the acronyms for his name. The majority of the page was written in English; words he didn’t know the meanings of at all. But the few lines of Hangul gave him enough context clues to give him an idea of what the page was about. _

_ “Why is he writing about me? He likes Felix... and I know Felix likes him, so…” _

_ Jumping to his feet, he kept the notebook in hand and raced to his room. He  _ had _ to know what all it said. Maybe the Hangul sections were completely unrelated. Maybe Changbin was comparing how annoying he thought Minho was to how much he loved Felix. Yes. That  _ had _ to be it. _

_ Once in his room, he threw open the notebook onto his desk and rummaged around his drawers for paper. Carefully he translated the page line by line onto his paper. He paused with his progress when he saw Chan tweet about missing something. Though he was worried that Chan was talking about the notebook, it had only been that Changbin was missing from him. Sighing out of relief, he continued on until he finished. _

_ He held the paper out in front of him with both hands. It was definitely some sort of love confession addressed to Minho. He had read through it what felt like one hundred times now. Laying it back down on the desk, he ran his hands through his hair. _

_ “Why is Changbin writing poetry about me? It couldn’t possibly be that he likes me. Even though that’s  _ exactly _ what it’s saying.” _

_ The more he pondered on it, the more he got concerned. Could all the times of Changbin teasing him really have been him flirting? If this were true, he couldn’t let Felix get hurt. If Felix found out that the guy he liked had eyes set on Minho too… Felix was too soft and delicate that it would destroy Minho if the boy was suddenly no longer a happy virus. He was going to have to confront Changbin. _

_ He kept it in his bag everyday so that he would have it on hand whenever he would next be alone with Changbin. His only issue was the he never got the chance. _

_ On the day that he dropped everything he was doing just so he could catch Changbin going to class, the man in question was out sick. This was another tally towards his bad timing and horrible luck. _

_ After failing to ever find Changbin alone, Minho tossed the notebook onto his counter. He was just going to have to call him to his room if he were going to get anything accomplished. _

_ It was just too bad that Jisung had found it first. If only he could have caught Changbin before, he could have avoided this entire thing. _

  
  


“I was too much in shock to even try to get my words out when you found it in my room,” Minho sighed out. Explaining the scenario took a toll on him. He was too ashamed to even look at Jisung now. “I wanted to run after you and talk right then, but I would have definitely not been able to make it with the state of my ankle then. And I know the chances of you even listening to me then were slim.”

With his head bowed, he kept his gaze on Jisung’s feet that dangled in front of him. The lack of movement in them told him that he was still listening. He let himself continue.

“I’m really,  _ really  _ sorry I invaded your privacy like that. If I had known it was yours, I wouldn’t have touched it. But…” He clutched his fingers tighter around the pic in his hand that he had yet to give back. His heart was going crazy inside of his chest, he thought his eardrums were going to explode with the way his pulse was beating. “I was kind of happy when you told me it was yours. Not just because I no longer had to worry about Felix getting hurt, but because you were the one that wrote those things about me.”

He pressed a hand against his forehead, sending the hair in his face back only for it to fall right back into place with the way he had his head hung so low. “After that, I was so miserable. I knew you must have hated me from that point on. I tried so many times to try and find you so that I could clear things up. I’ve felt nothing but guilt since then. And…” his voice began to falter and fade out. “it really just didn’t sit well with me knowing the one I liked was doing everything he could just to avoid me…”

There. He said it.

Jisung scoffed with something that could best be described as an unamused smirk. “You really didn't have to make up a lie like that, the explanation was enough.”

After allowing Minho to fully explain himself without any interruptions whatsoever, Jisung couldn’t find it in him to hold it over the boy anymore. He had made a mistake in knowing who the notebook belonged to and he only did what he did because he was trying to protect Jisung’s best friend at the cost of confronting his own. So that’s what he had meant when he said he translated it while only thinking of Felix.

The pain from his private thoughts being known was still there, but not to the same degree that it had been. However, Minho making up a lie saying he was happy to figure out that he liked him too only added salt to the wound.

Minho picked his head up to study Jisung with a confused expression. It was clearly not the response he had imagined. “What? What lie?”

“The part where you said you liked me,” Jisung clarified, pulling a knee up to his chest to rest his arm on. “I already know you don’t. I know you have a girlfriend.”

Minho’s mind completely shut down at that. He was stuck with an extremely puzzled expression as he tried to make sense out of what he just heard. His mind had to reboot. Ten seconds passed before he was able to ask, “what are you talking about? I don’t have a girlfriend. Who told you I did?”

Not a single clue came to him when he wracked his brain for answers. Did Chan or Changbin tell him such information? Or someone else?

“I  _ saw _ it, hyung. It’s okay, you don’t have to keep lying.” He was finding it quite sad that the charade was still going on.

“Saw what? Jisung, I’m telling you I don’t have a girlfriend and I definitely haven’t since I’ve known you.”

“Then who was that you had pinned up against the wall kissing? You just do that with anyone then?”

“Kis-“ Suddenly Minho’s eyes widened in realization. He didn’t know Jisung had seen that. He could lie about what that was, but he was going to have to tell the truth even if it angered Jisung further. It was all for the sake of clearing up everything. He rubbed his neck timidly with a hand. “That… wasn’t what you think it was.”

“Enlighten me then.”

“You probably won’t like the answer…”

Jisung’s eyes narrowed once again though he stayed quiet to give him the chance to explain that one too.

  
  


_ It was again right when he got back from promoting but after he had found the notebook in Chan’s room. The dance class had ended and Minho was about to leave when his classmate asked him to stay behind. The exact information of why Minho has been absent from classes for so long had been kept a secret, but somehow she had found out. _

_ “Minho, did you have fun performing with my oppas?” _

_ Minho was trying his best not to start cringing at the question. He hadn’t expected her to be a hardcore fan of the group he promoted with, but then again he did remember how she always knew their dances the best. _

_ “I don’t know what or who you’re talking about,” Minho claimed, no longer interested in the conversation. He began to move to get his things. It would be best if he pretended like he hadn’t just performed with who she thought. _

_ “If the other girls knew where you’ve been, they would be all over you,” she informed as she played with her long pastel colored hair. _

_ “Is this your way of telling me you’re interested? Because I’m not.” _

_ She giggled to herself, putting the back of her hand up to her mouth to try and stifle it. Shaking her head she corrected, “no, I don’t like anyone that steals from my oppas.” _

_ Suddenly regaining interest in the conversation, Minho turned back to look at her. “Stealing? I didn’t steal anything from them.” _

_ Pouting her lips with a sigh, she moved to her bag that was sitting up against the wall away from everything. Prior to Minho picking up his own bag, the two had been sitting side by side. Reaching her hand in, she pulled out Jisung’s notebook. She must have swiped it from Minho’s bag without him seeing. _

_ “That’s so weird, because why do you have one of their lyric books?” She began flipping through random pages. “I know it’s not yours, you don’t write lyrics.” _

_ Eyes widening at what was in her hand, Minho dropped his bag dead on the floor before rushing over to her. Slamming his hand against the wall just beside her head, he watched as she fell silent. She was becoming a bit scared at the sudden change in energy from the older boy, but quickly reverted back to normal. He had her locked in to where he knew she wouldn’t get past him. _

_ “You went through my bag?” _

_ “The thief is getting mad at me for calling him out? Oppa,” she tilted her head to the side, face close to his as she stared at him with a bit of a crazed look. “Have you no shame?” _

_ “Have  _ you  _ no shame?” Minho barked back. “I didn’t steal that from the group I worked for. That belongs to my friend. He’s in 3RACHA and that’s  _ his _ notebook.” _

_ The girl didn’t seem to believe him. “Your friend didn’t write these things. They’re too well done for it to belong to a wannabe rap group.” _

_ Minho wasn’t taking this any longer. Roughly he snatched the notebook out of her grasp, keeping a tight hold on it so she couldn’t get it back. “You can talk down to me all you want, but don’t ever drag 3RACHA. I won’t forgive you if you do. They’re all talented and make everything themselves unlike a lot of people in the industry. So if you can’t say anything nice, keep them out of your mouth.” _

_ With that he backed away, grabbed his bag and headed out without even glancing back. He replaced the notebook safely back into his bag and was going to be sure that no one else would touch it. _

  
  


“Why do I keep getting insulted in these stories,” Jisung muttered to himself, starting to feel a bit insecure. His gaze was up to the night sky above him, clouds shielding the stars behind them. He especially didn’t like the way someone else read his notebook. This made two unwanted readers to his list now.

“I’m sorry, I really am.” Minho lost count of how many times he had apologized just in this one night, but despite the number, he still felt like it wasn’t enough to be forgiven for. He had made a complete mess out of everything, after all. Minho single handedly caused so much distress and pain for Jisung since their very first encounter and hadn’t stopped since. 

Looking back down at the pic in his hands sadly, he knew he had done all he could. He wouldn’t hold it against Jisung for hating him not only for reading what was in his notebook himself, but also being careless enough to have someone else read it too. He took a few small steps towards the boy, noticing the state of his hand now that he was closer. There was no longer a bandage over it so he could clearly see the cuts and baby scabs that patterned his knuckles. He couldn’t help but to think he was the reason behind it. The thought alone tore at his heart and put a heavy weight on his chest, nearly suffocating him.

Reaching his arm up, he gently placed the pic down on the stone beside Jisung. “Thank you for allowing me to explain,” he said softly. “As promised, I’ll leave you alone now.” He lingered for but a second, not wanting to keep his end of the deal. He let himself get one last look at Jisung before backing up and heading towards the way that he had come.

Without a word, Jisung lowered his face back down from the sky and picked up his guitar pic to play with it in his hands. It was a dark blue color with the number 3 carved into one side of it. Setting it on his thumb, he flicked it up into the air. He watched it spin around a few times before closing his hand around it in the air and slapping it onto the back of his other hand. His palm laid still over top of the back of his other hand. If it landed with the 3 facing up, he would go after the boy. If it landed with the plain side up, then he would forget that he even came.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always~ Thank you so so much for reading and sticking with me this far! I’m not done yet with everything. Please let me know what your thoughts are. I love reading your comments.
> 
> I’m also really curious as to who you all think is the one behind Minho’s messages. The only obvious hint is that it’s someone younger than him. (I’m sorry, that wasn’t even a hint because only Chan is older than him)
> 
> *one last thing before I go and I promise to shut up- I have been receiving a lot of feedback from numerous readers about how much they liked the slight Seungsung aspects. If enough people are interested, I could make an AU to this AU (it would branch off at a certain chapter) in where it ends up being Seungsung. I have thought a lot about it and I could definitely do it once this one is over, but I don’t know if anyone would actually be interested.
> 
> Okay that’s enough talking from me for now. Until next Monday ☆〜（ゝ。∂）


	24. Chapter 24

**Jisung**

@hansome

This is so stupid…

  
  


Without pulling up his hand to uncover which side the pic landed on, Jisung closed his fist back around it and shoved it into his pocket. Propelling himself off of the wall, he jumped off and landed on the pavement with a loud thud. He picked up his guitar and slung it over his back by the strap. From there he inhaled sharply and took off jogging towards Minho.

Minho hadn’t been able to put much distance between the two of them before his wrist was entrapped in Jisung’s clutch. He was yanked to a stop. Turning slowly, he was met by Jisung with his face turned down. Silver hair fell in front of his face but he was still able to make out a soft expression behind it.

“It’s your turn to listen to me,” Jisung voiced quietly, stare set on where he was holding onto Minho’s slim wrist. Though his grasp was barely there, Minho didn’t try to free himself from it. His tone was calm at this point when he spoke. “You have caused me to be so stressed out. I’ve gotten hurt over you more than once or twice. I completely fled the campus and took refuge at my friend’s apartment because I couldn’t even stand the thought alone of being anywhere close to you.”

The more he talked, the stronger his grip became around Minho’s wrist. The older watched as the bones in Jisung’s hand protruded in lines up against his skin. He believed that if Jisung really wanted to, he could snap his wrist in a heartbeat. Though the hold was starting to become highly uncomfortable, he couldn’t bring himself to ask him to stop. Jisung was angry and he had every right to it.

“A big part of me wishes you hadn’t shown up. I would have been perfectly fine if I never had to see you again. I was working on being perfectly fine…”

His voice was laced with hurt, his grip losing its strength.

“ So tell me why…”

Jisung let his hand fall dead at his side, the soft feeling of his fingers grazing Minho’s hand on its way down. Steadily he raised his eyes so that he could look into Minho’s. They were twinkling and Minho wondered if the boy was about to cry.

_Minho hurt me. He humiliated me. He stole from me. He made me so confused._

The list of negative things Minho has done just wouldn’t stick to him.

“Why am I betting on my feelings and giving you a chance?”

Jisung was definitely going to cry. This time, Minho wouldn’t let him feel humiliated. He reached a hand behind Jisung’s head and ever so gently pulled him into a hug. He threaded his other hand through the guitar resting against Jisung’s back to hold him while keeping a comforting hold against his head.

Wrapping his arms around Minho’s tiny waist, Jisung let himself fall into him. Even though his chin was rested on Minho’s shoulder, preventing him from seeing his face, he could still feel the hiccups of Jisung’s crying.

_I’m so tired of hurting and being confused. I’m tired of misunderstanding. It’s always been a misunderstanding. He’s not the bad guy I painted him as. He never has been. He was wrong about my notebook belonging to Changbin hyung, but still he acted purely to prevent Felix from getting hurt. He was willing to confront his own friend for the sake of Felix. How could I hate him for that? How can I hate him for anything? But I want to hate him. For everything he’s done to me._

After a moment, Minho loosened his hold around Jisung so he could reach the hand holding Jisung’s head down until it made contact with the hood of his jacket. There he gently pulled it up and over Jisung’s head until it served as a curtain around his face. He knew the other wouldn’t want to be caught crying so this way he could still hide from him.

“I know you want to hate me,” Minho offered gently as if he were reading his mind. “I don’t blame you. I hate me too.”

Without looking anywhere at his face, Minho pulled back with Jisung’s lead until they were no longer together.

Wiping away at his face with his sleeve, Jisung turned away from him. “You have to understand. Lately, I’ve been going through a lot of… things,” he decided. “I don’t hate you. I believe what you said and I can’t stay mad at you for what you did because of it.”

He kept his head down, the hood of his white jacket far down the front of his face. His breathing was steadier now, but he still wasn’t ready to look Minho in the face again and Minho didn’t try to force him to. There was a ‘but’ in his statement and Minho was waiting for it. It was just that it never came.

“Jisung,” he started, voice soft and empathetic. He knew what Jisung wanted to say. He felt a bit grateful that he never did say it. “I know that a lot has been going on for you. It took me a long time to get everything into the open. I’m sorry about that. I’m sorry about this entire thing. Just know that I’m not going to try to pressure you into anything. The ball is in your court now and you can keep it there for as long as you want.”

Even though Minho had just finished saying otherwise, Jisung couldn’t help but to feel the pressure of the situation. Telling him ‘no pressure,’ usually always resulted in him getting anxious. He was overwhelmed with emotions right now and needed to sort his mind.

“I’m going to head back first,” Jisung finally spoke after a moment of thought. He was already turned away and moving. “Goodnight, hyung.”

“Goodnight,” Minho echoed, watching him disappear into the darkness.

There was so much for them to discuss and fix, but tonight would not be the time to do that. Jisung had enough on his mind for the night to be able to listen to anything else. He would need a little bit of time to mull it over and Minho would be sure to get everything sorted when he knew the other was ready. They both needed time to be able to take in everything that had happened and work on getting to a normal state. Minho didn’t know how long that would take but he was willing to go for it.

It felt like Minho had entered some sort of dream. His body seemed so much lighter now that he was able to finally explain himself. Before, his body felt like it weighed twice the amount it really did. The thought of having to keep his end of the deal by leaving Jisung alone for good had put a hole through his heart. Each step away from him had taken all of his strength from him, but when he felt Jisung pull him to a stop, it all came flooding back into him.

With Jisung leaving him there alone, the weight began making its residency again in his chest. Lowering himself down until he was squatting, he put his face into his hands. There was nothing left for him to do except wait and hope that Jisung lets him in. Hearing Jisung say that he would give him a chance kept replaying in his mind, but what worked at him was the lack of specification of what kind of chance he was getting.

  
  


**Minho**

@meowho

😔

  
  


( how did it go? )

  
  


**Minho hyung**

( Honestly? )

( I don’t know... )

( He said he doesn’t hate me, so that’s a start )

( But I still can’t help to fight this feeling )

  
  


( Lucky for you, he has a really big heart )

( he just needs some time )

( I’m glad that you were able to talk to him in the end )

  
  


**Minho hyung**

( I know I really didn’t ask you to, but thank you for helping me this much )

  
  


( It was no problem )

( I knew more than anyone with what was going on so it was only natural that I step in without giving too much away )

( I really hope that it works out for you )

( I’ll talk to you later. Goodnight, hyung )

  
  


**Minho hyung**

( Goodnight )

  
  


Shutting the door softly behind him, Jisung removed his shoes and guitar from his body before making his way to the far end of the room where Felix was. Controller in hands, he was laying on his back, turned just enough to be facing the TV screen. The sound was coming from the speakers rather than having a headset on, allowing him to hear Jisung’s entry.

“Oh Sungie, you’ve been gone for awhile. Sorry, I ate without you.”

“That’s okay, I was gone for longer than I planned to be.”

He watched the TV screen for a second. Felix was busy playing Animal Crossing, fishing on his little riverbank. His character was an even cuter version of himself; if that was even possible to begin with.

Carefully and without putting much weight down, Jisung crawled on top of Felix’s small body. He fished his head through the hole of Felix’s arms so that he wouldn’t obstruct his playing and lightly laid himself down, resting the side of his head on Felix’s chest.

Eyes flickered from the tv screen down to Jisung then back to the screen. It wasn’t unheard of that Jisung would want physical contact like this, but Felix wasn’t born yesterday; he knew something was a bit different this time around.

“Is there something up, Sungie?”

“No, I just want to lay here because I love you.”

Sappy words coming from Jisung? At this late at night? Felix became even more curious.

“Were you out writing a love song for me?”

Jisung tilted his head up slightly so that he could look at him with a serious expression. “Did you want me to write you a love song? I will.”

Felix shook his head, causing Jisung to watch the screen again. He exhaled softly, closing his eyes to rest them. He knew Felix was waiting for him to explain; he was just being very patient with him while he did so. Felix had been kept in the dark for so long that Jisung felt bad for it. Maybe he could open up now. A promise was made that he would once everything was sorted, after all.

“Have you ever been happy about being wrong,” he asked, to which Felix didn’t answer out of not understanding what he meant. Why would anyone be happy about being wrong? It was supposed to be the other way around. “While I was out working on a new song, Minho hyung found me.”

Not even bothering to pause the game, Felix tossed his controller onto the table standing in front of the couch with a small clank. Animal Crossing who? His full attention was now on Jisung and Jisung only. He remembered how Minho had told him he had something to ask of Jisung and he wondered if he got to it.

Pushing himself up and off of Felix, Jisung sat cross legged in front of him. He stuck his hands in his jacket pockets and pushed them into his lap. Finding his guitar pic in the right pocket, he began to play around with it in between his fingers.

“Felix, I haven’t been completely honest with you over the last month,” he started off, already feeling bad inside for having kept everything to himself for so long. “I’m _really_ sorry about that, but I did have my reasons.”

Following his lead, Felix slowly pushed himself up as well until he was backed against the arm of the couch. He couldn’t help but to turn his lips downward in a slight frown at the confession of Jisung having lied to him for so long. 

“A few days ago when you asked me why I wouldn’t let you help me talk to Minho hyung… it wasn’t the full truth when I said our paths never crossed,” he admitted and looked into his eyes before adding, “please don’t think anything until I’m done explaining, okay?”

Crossing his arms at his chest, Felix stared at him with narrowed eyes, but still he nodded, agreeing to his terms. Suddenly he was serious. “Okay. I won’t. Go ahead.”

Jisung inhaled deeply and let it out again before he let himself continue. This was about to be hard on him. “The real reason I said not to bother helping me was actually because I hated the guy. I was avoiding him by all means and I didn’t want anything to do with him. He did something to me.”

“What did he do?” Felix blurted out faster than he could stop himself.

“Felix, you promised,” Jisung reminded, sternness in his eyes, telling him to be quiet for the time being.

With pinched fingers, Felix zipped his mouth and threw away the key. Not another peep would come out of him.

“Remember when I lost my notebook? It turned out that he had taken it,” he said and with hard emphasis added, “ _mistakenly,_ though. He thought it was Changbin hyung’s. And that’s why when he was reading it, he translated the page I had written about him so he could understand it. He thought hyung liked him, but he wasn’t about to let you get hurt from that so he tried to confront him about it before that happened.”

Jisung hung his head a bit lower. “But… but I found it first. I was coming back from being with Seungmin and Hyunjin when I saw Minho fall because of his ankle. I helped him to his room and was tending to him when I just happened to see it laying there.” He let out a beat of a bitter laugh, hating himself from back then. “You know I have a horrible habit of not letting people talk. I was so _angry_. I yelled at him and cursed his name without even giving him the chance to explain. Ever since I ran out on him and hid at Jeongin’s, I never gave him the time of day. Until… tonight.”

He didn’t let himself look up to examine the facial features of his friend. He would get too distracted if he did. Firmly he closed his right hand around the guitar pic, remembering the events of just a little while ago.

“He promised that if I heard him out, he would leave me alone for good. So I did. And after hearing everything he said and thinking about it all, Felix, I couldn’t let myself hate him anymore.”

There was a hint of a smile on Felix’s face at that. This was progress in the right direction.

“So how do you feel now?”

“I didn’t want him to leave me alone for good. Not after that,” Jisung admitted quietly. Asking something like that of Minho just wouldn’t have sat right in him. He couldn’t be so petty and grudge-stricken that he would tell him to never speak to him again.

“But,” Felix prompted, learning forward slightly.

“But… I don’t think I can let myself like anyone else right now. Not tonight.”

  
  


**Felix**

@fabulix

(´ｰ｀)

  
  


“Why do you say that?”

Absentmindedly, Jisung pulled a couch pillow to him and softly wrapped his arms around it for comfort. Felix wanted to reach out and hold him himself but fought against it. He thought if he touched Jisung now, he would break before he would finish talking.

“You probably noticed already, but I haven’t been feeling myself for a while. Recently, I haven’t been able to do what I want. I’ve had to yield to many things,” he sighed, hugging the pillow even closer to his chest. “I just need a little bit of time to fix myself.”

The way Jisung looked right now to Felix seemed so vulnerable and he beat himself up over having let it get this far. The boy in front of him looked so small in size with the way he balled himself up around the couch pillow. He wished he would have known sooner about everything so he could have helped.

“Sungie… can I ask you something?”

Jisung nodded, allowing him to speak.

“Why didn’t you just tell me everything at the beginning?”

Jisung brushed a hand back through his hair, silver strands laid back on top of his head now. “I know how much you look up to him, Felix. I know how much he helps you and how important he is to you. So just because he did something to me that I didn’t like, I didn’t want you to drop him yourself. I couldn’t be that selfish.”

  
  


**Felix**

@fabulix

Perhaps I will cry

**Changbin** @spearb

@notyouroppa How do I break into a room?

**Felix** @fabulix

@spearb @notyouroppa WAIT IT’S NOT LIKE THAT

**Jeongin** @notyouroppa

🤨

  
  


**Changbin**

@spearb

I’m watching.

  
  


Felix leapt onto Jisung like a cat, knocking him straight back onto the couch. Sobbing, he squished the side of his face against Jisung’s, smearing his tears all over. Arms were wrapped around the other’s upper half, squeezing him tightly to the point Jisung thought he might pass out. If it weren’t for the pillow in between them, he might just have actually done that.

“Han Jisung, you beautiful soul, I love you so so much! I can’t believe you thought about me like that. I really don’t deserve you as my soulmate. I’m so sorry that you thought you had to keep all of this to yourself because of that.”

“I love you too, Felix, but you’re going to break my spine if you don’t let go,” he strained from his boa constrictor-like hold.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” Felix quickly apologized, pulling his arms back to himself. He didn’t bother wiping away the tears from his eyes, instead he just let them stream down his face and fall onto the pillow and Jisung’s hand below him.

“Lix, why are you crying?”

Jisung reached a hand up to gently wipe away at Felix’s tears with his thumb. He felt Felix rest his face softly in his hand. “Lix, don’t cry. This is why I didn’t tell you. I didn’t want you to feel this way.”

This was _his_ problem, not Felix’s. He specifically hid everything from Felix just because he knew he would get like this. He didn’t want to see him being anything other than happy even if it meant that he had to go through things alone. Jisung really had tried his best to make sure that Felix could freely enjoy college life without worries.

If Felix didn’t stop crying soon, Jisung would have to start. Throwing the pillow from his chest off to the floor somewhere, Jisung pulled his friend down until he was laying flat on top of him.

“I don’t like it when you hide things from me. Especially when they’re distressing you so much,” Felix hiccuped. “I’m sorry for saying things without knowing how you truly felt. It wasn’t something a supportive best friend should do.”

“It’s okay,” Jisung whispered against Felix’s ear. He softly played with Felix’s hair to try and soothe him. With his other arm he hugged his slim frame closer to him. “I know you were just trying to help. I didn’t tell you anything, so you didn’t know.”

Felix buried his face in the softness of Jisung’s jacket, wiping his tears away in the process. “You still love me, right,” he asked, voice muffled from the fabric.

He felt like he had failed Jisung as a friend in this moment. Even though Jisung had been hurting and distressed, he had kept it well away from Felix so he too wouldn’t be troubled. Jisung took Felix’s feelings into account before he ever did his own. All Felix did to repay him was sit around oblivious to what was really going on.

Jisung planted a kiss on top of Felix’s head. “I’ll always love you, Lix. More than anything,” he whispered.

“More than cheesecake?”

“I’d let them all burn for you.”

“I really love you, Sungie…”

He shifted his weight slightly so he could move the leg that touched the back of the couch out from under Felix and bent it up. If they were going to stay like this, he would want to get as comfortable as possible. Feeling Felix nuzzle into him, he started to play with his hair again and sing softly so he would fall asleep.

He wasn’t sure how the tables turned from being the one downcasted to being the one to comfort Felix. He wasn’t sure how anything ended up the way that they did anymore. But with the way that Felix was hugging his arms around Jisung’s neck, body limply laying on top of him as his breathing became slower and slower, Jisung couldn’t find anything to complain about. Ironically enough, the situation comforted him. The weight of his best friend on him, hugging him, it was all he could ever ask for at the time.

Unable to fall asleep, he had been resting his eyes, thinking about everything when his phone vibrated in his pocket. Immediately he sucked his stomach in so his phone wouldn’t be pressed up against Felix to wake him up. The last thing he needed was the younger to come out of slumber.

Carefully he pulled the phone out his pocket and held it above Felix’s head so Jisung could see the screen. It was Jeongin calling. Swiping across the decline button, he moved into messages.

  
  


( Felix is asleep on me so I can’t talk )

  
  


**BB Innie**

( My Innie senses are tingling )

( What’s going on? )

  
  


( Minho hyung found me tonight and explained himself )

  
  


**BB Innie**

( !? )

( What did he say?? )

( You actually let him talk? )

( I’m so proud of you 😭 )

( Do I have to kill someone? )

  
  


( Calm down for a second )

( You told me to let him 😒 )

( But anyways, he said that he didn’t know it was my notebook. He thought it was Changbin hyung’s and translated it because he thought Changbin had been secretly pining for him and he didn’t want Felix to get hurt if that was the case )

  
  


**BB Innie**

( Oh… )

( That’s… actually kind of nice of him )

( Besides the fact he still read it 😒 )

  
  


( Changbin hyung and him have a weird relationship 😓 )

( Also… )

( He said that he was happy to find out it was mine )

( Because he likes me )

  
  


**BB Innie**

( OH?? )

( WHAT )

( HE SAID HE LIKES YOU?? )

( WHAT DID YOU DO? )

  
  


( I didn’t act on it )

( I need a bit of time )

( I have too much going on for myself so it would just be a mess )

( But I did forgive him )

  
  


**BB Innie**

( That’s understandable, baby steps )

( Hyung, are you going to be okay? )

  
  


( I’m fine )

( I told Felix about everything too )

( I just need some time to think… or not think )

  
  


**BB Innie**

( 😕 )

  
  


( Don’t worry. I won’t do anything stupid )

  
  


**BB Innie**

( I trust you, but come to me if you need to )

  
  


( I will )

( Thanks, Jeongin. For always listening )

  
  


**BB Innie**

( ╰(*´︶`*)╯♡ )

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> See you next Monday ✌︎


	25. Chapter 25

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Congratulations, you’ve unlocked Minho’s POV ♪( ´▽｀) There’s only 2 POVs left that have not quite been unlocked yet; reasons involved.

* * *

_Minho had managed to get Jisung alone in the basement floor of the performance building. He had asked Felix to call Jisung there under the impression that he needed his help. The reasoning wasn’t his own idea; he merely just requested to talk to Jisung about something. More than happy to help, Felix took it upon himself to come up with the excuse and make sure to not be anywhere nearby._

_That’s how Jisung found himself walking into an empty studio room. Hiding just around the corner, Minho slipped in behind him and softly shut the door. Back against the frame, his hand moved to the lock, turning it until it was locked._

_The clicking sound from the lock caused Jisung to turn around and meet him. The surprised expression on his face quickly morphed into that of irritance when he saw who it was._

_“You’re not Felix.”_

_“No, actually I asked Felix to help me talk to you. This was his idea for you to come here.”_

_By the looks of Jisung’s clenched fist, he knew he wasn’t happy with that. He tried to get past Minho but the older didn’t budge._

_Minho stood up straighter, adding to the height difference in between them. His hands shakingly kept a hold of the door handle he was guarding. The intense look Jisung was staring him down with was causing his heart rate to quicken._

_“I need to talk to you,” he requested, trying to keep his voice even._

_“Well I_ don’t _. So move. Get out my way.”_

_Minho shook his head, trying again. “Just listen to me-“_

_“_ No _,” Jisung barked back, fully invading the older’s personal space at this point. “You listen to_ me. _” Even though Jisung was shorter, it seemed like the complete opposite. He was growing in size as Minho shrunk down. “I don’t care what you have to say. I don’t like you. I can’t stand even being in the same room as you. Do me a favor and leave me the fuck alone, okay? You’ve done more than enough already and now you’re just adding to it. Don’t even dare to try to go through Felix to get to me again.”_

_Practically shoving Minho to the side, Jisung unlocked the door and swung it open. It ricochet off the wall with a thud as Jisung stormed down the hallway, disappearing into the stairwell. Holding his bicep in his hand, Minho tried his best to rush after the younger only to completely lose him on the next floor. He was way too fast; and quiet at that._

_Minho tried again and again to reach out to him through text and social media but was blocked on everything before he could even type anything out._

_It got to the point where even Felix no longer came to him for dancing advice or even a casual conversation, gradually pulling Hyunjin into it as well._

  
  


This had been the nightmare that haunted Minho at night since he began trying to apologize to Jisung. Without fail every night he laid awake in his room, trying to come up with some strategy, trying to come up with the right words. In fear of the nightmare coming to life, he couldn’t find it in him to confide in anyone and it ate him alive.

It’s the reason he was so relieved yet at the same time anxious when he had received Jisung’s location out of the blue last night. It was completely unexpected. He hadn’t planned for anyone to help him in that way; he refused to ask for it. But without any context, it was sent to him and he made the right decision to find some courage in his curiosity and head there.

If he were being honest with himself, a very small part of him wanted to be a coward and head back, pretending like he never saw what was there or say that Jisung had simply just left before he even made it. Negative thoughts of not being able to explain himself and turning things into the worst filled him with anxiety, but he forced himself past it. It would be his only chance and he had been thinking about it nonstop.

The moment he was stopped by Jisung was when he allowed hope to creep back into his heart. It was like a weight had been removed from his body at the same time as Jisung’s weight was added to him. If Minho had anything to say about it, the latter was definitely the more preferred one.

  
  


The following morning came with Minho feeling like a zombie. Every night since the incident with Jisung, Minho had turned into a complete insomniac; each night being nothing but a tossing and turning session. This one still consisted of Minho laying on his back while staring dead at the ceiling for the entire night.

He moved his head silently to the side to watch the sun stream through his window, shadows dancing lazily around on his floor. It was no longer hard to believe that another sleepless night had passed him by.

After a long, hot shower to feel more like himself, Minho didn’t waste much time exiting his dorm and descending a few floors until he reached that of where Chan stayed. Just in case they were asleep, he quietly opened the door and peeked inside.

The shoes in the entryway said that both of his friends were in here, but the barren living room area said they were most likely still asleep. Leaving his shoes at the door with the rest of them, Minho treaded towards the cracked bedroom door and poked his head in. Chan was sitting at his desk with his laptop; completely unbothered by Minho’s sudden presence in his room. Changbin on the other hand was sound asleep in Chan’s bed. He was dressed in his purple hoodie, hugging the blanket to his chest.

After getting Chan’s invitation to come in with the nodding of his head to the side, Minho crept in with a slightly devious look on his face. He pulled his phone out and secretly took a picture of the sleeping Changbin. Admiring how it came out, Minho leaned back against Chan’s desk and checked out what was on the screen.

It was fixed on Chan’s production program, the playhead left unmoving in the middle of the timeline. Chan’s headphones were resting around his neck, leading Minho to believe he was taking a break from his project. The older seemed to know what was going on in his head as he was already beginning to explain.

“I’m stuck with this part of it. I’ve been working on this all night but the middle just seems off from the rest,” he said in a volume low enough that wouldn’t wake Changbin up but loud and clear enough for the boy standing beside him to hear. Ducking his head slightly, Chan pulled the headphones from around his neck and offered them out for Minho to take.

Minho fitted the headphones over his ears as Chan set the time back to the beginning so the entire track could be heard. Bobbing his head along to the music, Minho found himself entranced by it. He could always count on Chan to come up with something great.

“As always it’s really good, hyung. But I hear which part you’re talking about.”

The two of them talked amongst themselves for a while, playing around with the mismatched segment until eventually Changbin woke up.

  
  


**Changbin**

@spearb

Oh hell, this is another nightmare

**Felix** @fabulix

Need me to chase it away?

**Changbin** @spearb

@fabulix That’s easier said than done with this one 😩

  
  


Sitting up and rubbing at his eyes tiredly, Changbin groaned, “honestly, Hyung, I understand your reasoning, but I really think you should reconsider locking your door.”

“Oh, Bin’s awake,” Minho noted as he looked over to him.

“Bin-“ Changbin repeated, freezing in the process of trying to pat down his bed head. It was very out of character for Minho to say his name shortened like that. “Who the hell are you?”

  
  


**Changbin**

@spearb

This nightmare is scarier than I thought 😣

  
  


“I’m not awake, am I?”

Minho simply walked over and lightly pinched Changbin’s cheek to prove that this wasn’t a dream. “You’re awake and I need something from you.”

Changbin deadpanned swatting away the unwanted hand from his face, “I told you already, everything I own has Felix’s and Felix’s name only on it.”

“I thought there might be a reason for you to show up here so early in the day,” Chan chimed in as he swiveled around in his chair to watch the two.

Minho shone a nervous smile at them, scratching his head in the process. “Well… don’t get me wrong, I love coming to hang out with you guys,” he pressed. “But, there was one thing in particular I needed.”

Changbin was back to eyeing him curiously. There was a hint of alarm to his gaze as he wasn’t used to Minho asking for things. He wasn’t used to any of the demeanor that Minho was expressing right now. It scared him a little bit.

“It’s nothing physical. I just need some advice, I guess,” Minho paused, trying to think of the right words as he lowered his hand down until it collided with his thigh. “It’s a bit of a long story.”

“We have nothing but time,” Chan reassured, shifting his weight in his chair until he was fully leaned back.

This was how he got the attention of his producer friends as he sat on the bed, explaining the scenario of how he messed up and caused Jisung to hate him up until how he cleared up all misunderstandings last night and was working on normalizing everything.

  
  


**Changbin**

@spearb

Did this dumbass really think that I liked him?

**Felix** @fabulix

W-who? 🥺

**Jeongin** @notyouroppa

🗡🤔?

  
  


**Minho**

@meowho

Yeah, I’M the dumbass, alright 😒

  
  


**Changbin**

@spearb

WAIT THATS NOT IT

**Changbin** @spearb

@fabulix bb I was talking about Minho, not you 😭

**Felix** @fabulix

👉👈

**Changbin** @spearb

@fabulix Remember what I said 😚

**Felix** @fabulix

☺️

  
  


**Minho**

@meowho

Why did I even bother 😩

  
  


Chan sighed. He hadn’t imagined any of this to be what had been going on. At least now Minho’s anxious behavior made a lot more sense to him.

“Why didn’t you just tell us? We could have helped you out, you know?”

“Hyung. I was too scared to.”

“We wouldn’t have hated you for it,” Changbin added in from the edge of the bed he sat on, his knees hugged to his chest. “It was an honest mistake, after all.”

It made Minho wonder just what would have happened if he had manned up and told these two about his situation when it first came up. Could he have gone straight to Jisung if he had? They both would have been saved from so much heartache if he had been able to.

“It was his stuff I went through, not yours,” Minho groaned in self disappointment. “I was under the illusion that things would turn out terrible if I asked for help.”

“I know we bicker sometimes… or maybe a lot,” Changbin corrected himself, though he knew everything was completely harmless between them. “But you’re still our friend. If you have a problem with anything, we’re going to want to help you fix it. You’ve helped us a lot too.”

  
  


**Minho**

@meowho

That’s probably the nicest thing Changbin has ever said to me 😭

  
  


“Especially if you told us what exactly happened, we could have cleared it up. He was avoiding _you_ , not us,” Chan pointed out.

Groaning even louder, Minho fell back onto the bed with hands covering his face. Sure now that it was all out in the open it seemed like an easy thing. But he knew all about hindsight.

“What do I do, hyung? Both of you know him better than I do.”

Seeing Minho like this was new for both Chan and Changbin. The usually stoic boy was suddenly showing more emotions than they have ever seen before and they weren’t sure how to take it. The two production majors exchanged a look before Chan rolled in his chair to where Minho laid.

“Well… you said he accepted your apology and doesn’t hate you,” he started, patting Minho’s leg in comfort. “But I wouldn’t advise looking for him. Let him go to you.”

Minho slid his hands off of his face until they laid down at his sides. He stared up at the ceiling with a blank expression. “Do you think he will?”

No matter what Jisung had told him last night, he couldn’t help to feel the paranoia of it all being over for him. He hated himself so much with the way he screwed up his own chances with his crush.

“It’s hard to say,” Changbin admitted with arms crossed. He hated to say it, but the more he thought about it, the less sure he became. He remembered the way that Jisung had left so suddenly when Minho’s name was brought up in conversation. To be fair, it was also before the situation had been cleared up. “If you’re asking me if we think he thinks you’re attractive, then I think you’re hot,” he shrugged to which Minho just stared at him with a slightly scrunched face of disgust.

“To be honest, I don’t think either of us actually knew Jisung liked you back then. He never told us.”

Whether it was just that he didn’t know them very well, or he just didn’t want things to possibly get weird, Jisung was a bit of a secretive person when it came to personal matters. Neither of the two had been told anything pertaining to his interests of people. But there couldn’t have been a way that he kept it secret from _everyone_.

“You should have let me help when you found out that laser tag boy was Felix’s best friend,” Chan reminded. “I had the in on both sides.”

Mind flooding with the past, Minho sent his mind back to the beginning of the semester. He couldn’t believe that the cute guy he had accidentally kissed at laser tag was the same person that was friends with his new dance major friends. Jisung’s initial rude behavior towards him when he found out the same had been a bit amusing to Minho. It was the same as when he got Jisung all discombobulated when they ran into each other.

He found it endearing with the way the younger apologized for it; simply for not wanting him to dislike Felix because of it. Minho had been quick to accept it. It was when he fully decided that he liked him. He kept the brief moments together close to him in his memories. The night that Jisung had gone into his dance studio room after Minho had been practicing for promotions until he physically dropped came to mind.

Even with him being as drained as he was, he remembered seeing the paper cut on Jisung’s finger and immediately taking him into the bathroom to wash it off and put a bandage on it. He wasn’t letting a chance of being alone with him slip from his grasp. That thought was quickly followed by the knowledge of how it was his notebook that gave him that paper cut. The same notebook that he didn’t recognize as Jisung’s and what caused him this dilemma and heart ache.

There was a small pout on his face, his brows wrinkled together in anguish. He wouldn’t stop mentally kicking himself over the situation.

Changbin couldn’t stand to watch Minho look so downcasted anymore. He crawled off of the bed and grabbed Minho’s hands, pulling him up to his feet. “Come on, get up.”

“What?”

Changbin walked over to Chan’s laptop and closed the lid before holding the door open for the two of them. He gestured for them to go out. “We’re going out and we’re going to have fun. Now let’s go,” he repeated in a way that didn’t let the other two take it as a suggestion.

  
  


**Chan**

@cbang

This is the closest I’ve seen Changbin and Minho together without them at each other’s throats in a long time 👀

**Felix** @fabulix

Pics or it didn’t happen

**Chan** @cbang

@fabulix

[ image attached ]

  
  


**Felix**

@fabulix

I never thought I would see the day

**Changbin** @spearb

Please not you too 😓

**Felix** @fabulix

@spearb Love you 😘

  
  


**Minho**

@meowho

Contrary to popular belief, we don’t hate each other 😏

**Chan** @cbang

What else do we expect when one of you is a Scorpio and the other is a Leo?

**Changbin** @spearb

@cbang It’s all out of love, hyung 😘

  
  


“Tell me again why we’re at some indoor ninja warrior course,” Minho questioned as he looked around the vast building

Out of all places Changbin could have taken the two of them, he had settled for what was most definitely a lesser version of a ninja warrior course. From trampolines to high walls to a pit of foam blocks laying under a row of swinging ropes, the course was set with an excessive amount of physical activities. It was a good thing that Minho’s ankle was better.

“Because the loser buys dinner, duh.”

“Los- that would be between me and you then,” Minho sputtered. “Chan hyung is going to destroy us.”

“Oh come on,” Chan pulled his arms around the two of them to bring them closer. “I think this will be fun. You can’t believe me to be able to do _all_ of these easily.”

“Hyung,” Minho deadpanned. “I _completely_ believe that.”

He was well aware of just how much pride Chan put into working out on the daily. The course awaiting them would be nothing more than a child’s playground to him. Changbin on the other hand, he was no stranger to the gym either. The boy was definitely packed with muscles. He would most likely not have a hard time with this either.

Minho pulled his mouth into a thin line as he gauged the situation. All he had to do was not come in last, right? The only thing he could bet on having against Changbin and Chan was speed. He wondered if it would be enough to balance out the rest.

  
  


**Minho**

@meowho

This is a trick 😾

**Changbin** @spearb

You act like you don’t have a winning chance here

  
  


The way their little competition worked was based on time. To come out ahead and on top, the winner would have to finish each task in the quickest amount of time; whether it was solo timing or all three of them could do it at once. 

The first objective was simple to start things off. It was a long rope ladder strewn over a pit of foam blocks. All they had to do was get to the very end of it without falling off. The only issue was that the person crossing would have to be extremely well balanced in order to not fall.

“Go on,” Minho nudged Chan forward to the ladder first. “Show us how it’s done. You said you have the most balance out of all of us,” he prodded, remembering the eldest having mentioned having ‘mastered the art of balance’ while trying out ballet.

“Me? Alright,” Chan stretched his arms in front of him and bent his fingers back, getting himself ready.

The two loners stood back; Changbin propping an elbow on Minho’s shoulder, as they watched Chan crouch down towards the rope. Carefully he placed both hands spread apart on either side of the ladder, trying his best to keep it steady. He only made it one step with his feet until he felt himself swing to the side and fall off to the pit below.

“Channie hyung, you’re going to have to do a lot better than that if you’re going to take first place in all of this,” Changbin called with a hand to the side of his mouth as if Chan couldn’t hear him from down below.

Chan crawled out from the foam pit and gestured to the youngest to try. “Go on, then.”

Changbin put his hands up in defeat before waltzing over to the ladder in confidence. It was a shame that it all faded with him failing right where Chan had.

Minho stepped up to it, not even waiting for Changbin to get out of the falling zone. After seeing the two of them fail, he was determined to get to the end. He had nearly made it when he too flipped over. However he caught himself by his feet in one of the steps, allowing him to just barely reach the end while continuing to climb upside down.

“The fuck was that?” Changbin huffed, still in the midst of the blocks with his arms crossed. “Are you an actual cat or something? Spidercat?”

“That,” Minho said, letting himself fall into the pit with him. “Was me winning.”

There was a sly grin on his face and usually this would work at Changbin’s nerves; but in this case he was pleased with it. He knew how competitive his friend was with these sorts of things. It was the sole reason for picking such a place to go to in order to make him forget about his troubles. One win wouldn’t fix Minho’s mind, so they would have to keep going.

The rest of the obstacles relied heavily on each of their strengths. Unless it had a big factor of running included, Chan dominated most of the challenges. This left Changbin and Minho in deciding who was going to be the loser and the one to buy dinner for everyone.

“All or nothing,” Changbin started, pointing ahead to the lining of rock climbing walls. “First to the top of the rock wall wins.”

Minho sent a swift kick to the back of Changbin’s knee, causing him to fall over. “I’m not going up there! Pick something else.”

Changbin steadied himself with the help of grabbing a hold of Chan’s arm. He should have seen that coming with the way he was well aware of Minho’s acrophobia. He just thought it would be amusing if the cocky boy happened to get himself stuck at the top.

“I have a better idea,” Chan chimed in and began to pull the two of them towards an extensive group of floor trampolines that made up a ball court. It was just like a basketball court with hoops all around, except instead of pavement, there were rectangles of trampolines that made up the court. “Since it’s clear that I’m not the loser, the two of you will play each other. I’ll ref.”

Changbin and Minho stared each other down, sizing up one another to see if this was a fair chance to win. Minho extended his hand out to Changbin in a gesture to make a deal.

“Seo Changbin.”

“Lee Minho.”

“I hope you brought your wallet with you,” Minho grinned devilishly.

  
  


**Chan**

@cbang

Screw friendly competition, these two are out for blood

 **  
Felix** @fabulix

I knew the peace wouldn’t last

  
  


**Chan**

@cbang

Changbin tripped Minho so now this has turned into dodgeball

**Chan** @cbang

I take that back. It’s rugby

  
  


**Changbin**

@spearb

This ref sucks

**Chan** @cbang

I wasn’t about to throw myself to the wolves

**Minho** @meowho

@cbang Don’t you already associate as one, you furry?

**Chan** @cbang

@meowho Says the man with ‘meow’ in his user 🙄

  
  


**Minho**

@meowho

😿

  
  


**Felix**

@fabulix

Everyone is out for blood on here 🙀

**Jeongin** @notyouroppa

Not me 😇

**Jisung** @hansome

@notyouroppa You’re the president of that club

  
  


**Jeongin**

@notyouroppa

Maybe if SOMEONE didn’t do certain things, I would be more docile 😑

**Jisung** @hansome

Are you trying to start a fight?

  
  


**Hyunjin**

@hwangjin

The tl is entertaining today 🍿

  
  


After many dirty plays of tripping the other or straight up pushing one another down to steal the ball, Minho managed to come out on top by successfully making more baskets than Changbin; 12 more to be exact. Minho hopped around happily at his victory, sending the downed Changbin into the air a few inches at each bounce.

“I should have seen this coming,” Changbin sighed drastically from where he lay on the trampoline floor.

Eventually Minho stopped his bouncing around to stop by Changbin and offered a hand down to him. The smile on his face led the younger to take it with good intentions. It was only that Minho used that hand to pick him up and throw him into the nearby foam pit.

  
  


**Chan**

@cbang

Changbin has to remember whose idea this was… 😓

  
  


“Okay, okay,” Chan interrupted, walking over to where his friends were fighting to get out of the pit first as some sort of new contest. “We all know who the loser is and I know we’re all tired so let’s go eat already. I’m starving.”

“Thank god I’m not the one buying if hyung is _starving_ ,” Minho sighed in relief as he now calmly climbed out of the pit. Just normally Chan is able to eat a lot of food, so if he was really hungry, Minho wouldn’t want to see that bill. “For real this time, I’ll help you up,” he promised, taking a hold of Changbin’s hand and pulling him up to the platform.

The trio headed out of the building more civil now that the contest was over and made their way to get dinner. Instead of staying out for the rest of the night, they all brought their little party to Changbin’s place so they wouldn’t have to worry about being so loud.

“I have to admit,” Minho mumbled through shoving more food into his mouth. “Food always tastes better when it’s Changbin buying it. Especially when free drinks are involved too.”

He was sitting on the floor with his back leaned up against the couch. Even though Changbin had said it was fine, the older wasn’t having himself eat over such an expensive piece of furniture. Minho claimed that it would be better for his posture if he was just sitting against it instead of on it while he ate so Changbin followed suit and sat beside him with Chan sitting across from them.

“It better after those cheap tricks you pulled earlier to win,” Changbin muttered, feigning annoyance at the memory of Minho putting everything on the line for their little tournament.

A light hearted chuckle escaped Minho’s grinning. Above all, he was pleased with the results. He was glad that he had somehow been able to not place last. After a moment, he stood up, placing a hand on Changbin’s head to steady himself. With his leg having fallen asleep and the drinks starting to settle in him, his balance wasn’t all the way there like it previously was.

“I’m going to the bathroom. Don’t eat everything while I’m gone.” Minho shot a glance to Chan. “I’m mainly referring to you, hyung.”

“Don’t stay in there all night and maybe you’ll still get some,” Chan teased and watched Minho wave a dismissive hand at him before disappearing down the hallway. Once he was gone, Chan retrieved another drink for himself.

“Say it, hyung.”

“Say what?” Chan questioned, pretending like he didn’t know. There was a knowing smirk on his face that he hid behind the opening of his drink.

“Say what I know you want to say about me,” Changbin prodded.

“Hmm…” Chan swirled his drink around in his bottle, watching the liquid move inside. “I just think that this side of you is nice, is all. Especially with it being someone other than Felix.”

“I told you that I don’t hate him. It’s just too easy to annoy each other.” Changbin bent a knee up to rest his arm on, completely relaxing against the frame of the couch. “Besides, as much as I do _love_ to have my way at him, I know right now is not the best time for that.”

Personally to Changbin, he was more than satisfied with the way things turned out tonight. Taking Minho somewhere and suggesting such an idea that the person with the least amount of winnings was something that he could be proud of. Did it hurt his pride when Minho destroyed him in the decision challenge? A bit. But did Changbin ever regret it? Minho won a little less than fair and moreso square with his own abilities so Changbin was more than satisfied with the usual cocky attitude of his friend. It just meant that Minho’s worries have been forgotten about. It was a mission accomplished.

  
  


**Chan**

@cbang

Who knew that behind all of those black clothes and dark aura that there was a soft and kind hearted bunny in there? 🐰

**Felix** @fabulix

I was happy to figure that out too 🥰

**Changbin** @spearb

I did. I knew. But noooo, no one else believes me 😞

**Jisung** @hansome

@spearb You’re the one that goes around calling yourself “dark rapper”...

  
  


**Changbin**

@spearb

I-

  
  


After a long night of food, drinks, and getting showered to feel cleansed from their activities, the three friends split up to finally pass out in their own spaces. Snoozing away in his room, Changbin had been curled up around his munchlax plushie when Minho let himself into the room sluggishly.

Rubbing tiredly at his eyes, he felt for the wall in the dark room with his free hand to try and maneuver to the bed. His walking was a little less than graceful with the help of his previous drinking. In the midst of going to the free side of the bed, he smacked his foot straight into the leg of Changbin’s dresser with a loud thud. Though he tried to be quiet and keep his mouth shut, him falling onto the bed holding his foot stirred Changbin awake.

Changbin’s eyes fluttered only to close once more. He was too tired to even bother seeing what it was. Not like he even could with how dark the room was. He already had a pretty good guess. “Chan hyung, why do you always carry the drunks to my room?” His voice was sleepy and carried through a yawn. “They can handle themselves.”

Minho faced the direction of Changbin even though he couldn’t see anything in front of him. He debated whether or not to let him think Chan was the one that brought him there or to tell him himself. Laying down quietly beside him, he chose the latter.

“I didn’t want to sleep alone,” he whispered.

Changbin picked his head up at the sound of Minho’s voice behind him and turned towards it.

Maybe it was the alcohol talking that was making Minho sound sappy again. “I’m tired of always being alone, Bin. Let me sleep in here just for tonight.”

There was no way that Changbin could turn him down. Not when he sounded like that. Despite knowing his hyung was a bit tipsy, he knew that he was speaking the truth. Minho was so used to dorming alone. Changbin knew how it felt to live like that. It’s the reason that he always stays in Chan’s small dorm room instead of his own spacious abode. Being by yourself was tiresome.

“Just don’t steal my blanket.” He breathed out a small sigh. He shouldn’t be like this right now. “Goodnight, hyung.”

“Night, Changbin.”

And just like that the two of them fell back asleep with their backs to each other. Minho didn’t hog all of the blanket and Changbin didn’t kick him out back to where he came.

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m a bit behind on chapters at the moment but I will try my absolute best to get them all done on time! This chapter is a bit new for me since it was revolved around Minho, but I hope you all still enjoyed it. Next chapter will also highly feature him and his caring side. Please look forward to it ❤︎


	26. Chapter 26

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 8 11 is 창빈's birthday  
> Please congratulate 창빈's birthday 🎉
> 
> ***
> 
> Welcome back~ this chapter is written as a flashback, hence everything in italics. I hope you all enjoy ٩( 'ω' )و

* * *

_  
It was a year ago when Changbin came to the university. With everything he had at his disposal, he could have done anything with his life, but he was hard pressed on becoming a self-produced rapper. He wanted to express himself in a way that could only be done through the means of quick rhymes and witty words. It was how he found himself enrolling into the university as a production major with no prior relations to anyone there._

_His first few weeks there were lonely; much like his living situation. There was too much anxiety with getting a dorm and sharing it with someone he didn’t know. It wasn’t easy for him to become close with anyone when he was in grade school. Even his parents suggested it would be better if he just got his own flat. That way he would have no one to bother when it came down to producing his music._

_Being as newly enrolled as he was, he was stuck in general education classes with other freshmen and a few sophomores. To his luck, Lee Minho was amongst them._

_With Minho being a year ahead, he already went through the initial uncharted waters phase. He was as cool and calm as they came; in slight contrast to Changbin’s situation. The sophomore at the time seemed to have everything figured out. There was a sense of confidence and maybe even a bit of cockiness to his aura. To say the least, it intimidated the freshmen but he still strived to be like that. The only problem was, he just couldn’t bring himself to talk to him._

_It wasn’t until later on that Changbin didn’t have to wait any longer for an opening. Standing out in the open space of the different buildings like a lost child at an amusement park, Changbin looked all around for his designated class building. He wasn’t used to the campus at all. Hell, he didn’t even live on it to be able to get a better feel for it. With the start time of his class approaching slowly, he began to panic. That was when he heard a voice behind him._

_“You look like a lost puppy.”_

_Trying his best to not seem overly surprised by the suddenness of someone speaking to him, Changbin turned until he was faced with a slightly amused Minho._

_He was holding only one strap of his bag on his shoulder with one hand and his other in his pocket. Just the entire way he was standing so casually and carefree worked at Changbin’s nerves. It escalated when the older began to approach him. Having an actual conversation with the older boy hadn’t been thought of and he didn’t know how to act._

_“Where are you headed? I’ll take you there.”_

_Changbin stared at him like a dead fish until he remembered the phone in his hand with his schedule on the screen._

_“It’s uhm, this one…”_

_He zoomed in on the class he was trying to get to and faced it towards Minho to see._

_Minho studied the details of it before nodding in confidence. “No wonder you couldn’t find it. You can’t see that building from where you’re standing,” he prosed. “Follow me, I’ll show you a shortcut from here. I’m Lee Minho, by the way. But you might have already known that.”_

_“Seo Changbin,” the younger breathed out with a lack of effort as well as confidence in introducing his own name._

_From there Changbin followed behind, though not too closely, all the way through one building to the other side of it where he could finally see the building he was looking for. He assumed that Minho would stop there and just let him figure out which floor and hallway his class was at, but stood corrected when he continued inside of it._

_“What are you doing taking a writing class for?” Minho questioned as he led the other up the stairs._

_“I’m uh, I’m actually a production major,” Changbin fumbled out as he was looking down to where he played with the ends of his hoodie sleeves._

_“A production major,” Minho repeated, taking a second to pause in his tracks to glance back at him. “Like you write music?”_

_Having not looked directly at him, Changbin nearly ran into him at the sudden stop. Backing up just a bit so that he wasn’t on top of him, he nodded. “I make my own music and lyrics. I rap.”_

_For whatever reason, just saying how he was self produced and raps gave him a kick of confidence. It wasn’t much, but it was enough for Minho to take note of it. It was clear that he was passionate and proud of what he did. He really should have started with that._

_Head turning in thought, Minho continued down the hallway until he reached Changbin’s classroom._

_“This is you. But uh, if it’s alright, maybe you can show me some of your stuff later on.” Minho rubbed the back of head as he offered. “But only if it’s alright with you,” he waved his hands in front of him defensively. “I don’t want you to feel uncomfortable or think I’m pressuring you into showing me, but I’d be interested in hearing what you got.”_

_At the thought of someone being interested in his work, Changbin felt himself smiling for the first time. Without much of a second thought, he offered his phone out to him._

_“No, no, it’s okay. I’m fine with that. You can text me when you’re free. I’ll bring my stuff to you.”_

_Minho blinked at the sudden change in attitude of the younger. All it took was mention of his work and he was feeling more open. Offering a smile back, he accepted the phone and added himself into it. He sent himself a message so he too would have his contact on hand._

_“Alright then, Changbin,” he said, offering the phone back to him. “I’ll see you soon.”_

_He stepped aside and waved a small goodbye before going back the way he came._

_After watching him go, Changbin looked down at the contact name with a smile._

Minho hyung

_He hadn’t realized it would be so easy to make a friend. He hoped he could call Minho a friend, anyways. Whatever it was, he had a good feeling about this._

_To say that he had been anticipating a text since he got out of his last class would have been an understatement. The excitement of already meeting someone genuinely interested in what he did sent his leg bouncing uncontrollably. He had been sitting at his desk alone at his flat with his computer setup in front of him, organizing all of his things into neat compositions when his phone buzzed against the hard surface beside him._

  
  


**_Minho hyung_ **

_( Hey )_

_( I finished up early so if you want to come to my dorm room with your stuff you can )_

_( Room 424 )_

_( You don’t have to worry about my roommate bothering you. He’ll be leaving soon )_

  
  


_( Cool, I’ll be there soon )_

  
  


_It wasn’t a long trip back to the campus. In fact, he lived relatively close to it. Walking there just wasn’t the best option to get there in a decent amount of time. That and he just didn’t have it in him to walk 20 minutes. Packing his things carefully into his bag, Changbin headed out to get a taxi._

_A short ride later Changbin realized he didn’t know where the dorms actually were. He didn’t even know if there were different buildings for dorms. Swallowing what was left of his pride, he pulled his phone out to text Minho again._

  
  


_( So, hyung… )_

_( Where exactly are the dorms? )_

  
  


**_Minho hyung_ **

_( what?? )_

_( Did you get so lost that you forgot where your dorm is? 😂 )_

  
  


_( Actually… I don’t live on campus )_

  
  


**_Minho hyung_ **

_( Oh )_

_[ location attached ]_

_( This should help )_

  
  


_( Thanks. I’ll be there soon )_

  
  


_Facepalming himself out of embarrassment, Changbin sighed, “god that was embarrassing… I think he just sees me for being lost all of the time.”_

_Slowly but surely he was able to navigate himself to the correct building. Reaching the fourth floor, the anxious boy made his way down the hall until he found room 424. He knocked once, then twice. He was about to go for a third when the door suddenly flew open with someone that was most definitely not Minho standing behind it._

_He had bright blonde hair that fluffed around his head and sported a too big t-shirt stuffed into the front of his too small jeans. If Changbin didn’t know any better, he’d say the boy was some idol._

_The unknown boy must have merely been trying to leave with the way he jolted to a stop and stared at Changbin. He couldn’t help but notice the few inches of size difference in between them but shone a bright smile at him; his eyes disappearing as he did so._

_“Hey Minho, your friend is here!” He called back behind him before apologizing to Changbin with a small bow. “Sorry, I was just leaving. Come on in. Minho is in our room.”_

_He slid by so Changbin had free reign of going inside. He waved farewell. “Okay, bye Minho! I’ll be back later tonight!”_

_“Bye, Soon hyung,” Minho called back from inside his room as he came out. He noticed Changbin standing awkwardly at the door as if he were some vampire that couldn’t pass through without Minho’s invitation in; even though he had already been invited inside once now. “Relax, no one is going to murder you in here. Close the door and come sit.”_

_“Oh, right. Sure.”_

_There was nothing for him to be scared of. He had to remind himself of that as he closed the door and made for the couch that Minho sat at._

_“You don’t dorm here?” Minho asked as he patiently waited for Changbin to take his laptop and notebook out of his bag and set them up on the coffee table in front of them._

_“No,” Changbin shook his head. “My parents and I thought it would be best if I just lived by myself. That way I wouldn’t have to worry about who I was living with or disturbing people when I make my songs.”_

_“That makes sense,” Minho nodded understandingly. “But that must get lonely.”_

_“It’s alright,” Changbin shrugged. It’s not like he necessarily minded living alone. He thought it was nice being able to live freely without anyone bothering him. Sometimes though, he did wish he had someone to share the space with. At least being in classes with others filled that void to an extent._

_Intently, Changbin shifted through his folder that contained all of his work that he liked the best. He wondered what he should play for Minho. Judging by his character, he wouldn’t take him for someone that listens to rap. He would choose something that wasn’t too strong._

_After playing a few songs for him, Changbin flipped around pages of his notebook. He was far too indulged in his own little world to notice the way that Minho was watching him in utter amazement. “And this is just a bunch of stuff that I write down when it comes to me,” he continued rambling, rubbing his thumb against a page. “A lot of it hasn’t been put into any song or anything yet. Or at all.”_

_Minho was staring dumbfounded at him. His eyes moved back and forth minisculely as he searched for something in Changbin. He was trying to find something that would make him believe he was just a starting freshman at the university. Besides the fact that he didn’t know his way around the campus, Minho found it hard to believe that the rapper had so much talent and solid songs to show for it already._

_“Changbin.”_

_The one in question picked his head up from his notebook, a slight look of confusion on his face as he came out of his trance. “Y-yes?”_

_“You made all of this yourself?”_

_Changbin could only nod._

_“Holy fuck. This is some real talent. And I’m not just saying that to be humble. I really mean it, your voice, your flow- Listen. I have this friend. He’s also a production major that raps and sings. I think you two would like each other.”_

_Changbin couldn’t help but to feel heat rising up to just face. It was unexpected for him to hear something that sounded like a setup. “O-oh- I don’t know- I mean, I’m not-“_

_His hands fumbled amongst themselves as he watched anywhere but towards Minho. Something like that was way too soon for him. He hadn’t even settled into college yet._

_“No, not like that,” Minho corrected. “Sorry, just I think that you two would get along really well since you do the same thing,” he explained. “Maybe you two could collab or something. Learn and help each other grow.”_

_“Don’t a lot of people here rap if they’re a production major?” Changbin asked perhaps a bit too cynically._

_“You don’t have to meet him or anything,” Minho insisted. “I believe the two of you ride the same wavelength is all.”_

_Changbin pressed his mouth together in thought. If Minho were onto something, meeting his friend would be beneficial to him. But did Minho even know what was classified as a good production major? As far as Changbin could remember, Minho said he was a dance major. He then thought to give some credit to his opinion and stop being so pessimistic. The only problem was his nerves. Just being alone in Minho’s dorm alone made him anxious. He needed to get past this. He was going to be brave._

_“I guess it wouldn’t hurt.”_

_Minho pulled his phone out at that and began texting away._

  
  


_( Hyung )_

_( What are you doing? )_

  
  


**_Hyung 😸_ **

_( Hyung brought chicken )_

_( Why, have you not eaten yet? )_

_( Do you want some? We have a lot )_

  
  


_( I didn’t text about food )_

_( There’s a new production major that’s in one of my gen ed classes )_

_( I invited him over to share his stuff and hyung, I think you two would work well together )_

_( He’s a bit on the opposite side of the spectrum from you style wise, but he’s really talented. Like he’s GOOD when it comes to rapping. He might actually be able to put you to shame )_

  
  


**_Hyung 😸_ **

_( 💀 )_

_( I offer you food- )_

  
  


_( I’m offering you a possible friendship )_

  
  


**_Hyung 😸_ **

_( Is it yours, cause by the sound of it… )_

  
  


_( 😑 hyung )_

  
  


**_Hyung 😸_ **

_( yes, okay, bring him over if he’s okay with that. I’d love to meet him )_

  
  


_( 😼 )_

  
  


_This was how Changbin ended up with someone he hardly even knew in two strangers’ dorm. He took the chance of something greater coming from these meetings. Minho had promised after all that he meant it when he said his friend was more talented than the average bear. He wouldn’t have said anything if he didn’t think his friend would be worth his time._

_“I’m Chan, that’s Daniel over there,” the blonde haired boy greeted. Changbin couldn’t help but see some resemblance of a friendly Labrador in him with the way he presented himself. “Don’t mind him sitting over there; he’s just content with his chicken and Nintendo,” he waved a hand dismissively in front of him. “Did you eat yet?”_

_It was a lot coming from one person at once in Changbin’s opinion. He had to take a second to process all of it. “I’m fine, thank you, ” He conjured out, hoping that he didn’t sound too awkward by turning down his offer. However, the older had already caught on._

_“Sorry, this is all probably really sudden for you, isn’t it?” Chan laughed light heartedly. There was just something about the sound of it that put Changbin’s nerves more at ease and made him feel like they were already friends. Chan was giving Minho a look. “You didn’t drag him here unwillingly, did you?”_

_Changbin took a step forward at that, giving his best attempt at a comfortable smile. “No, I told him I wanted to come,” he assured. He began to rub the back of his head timidly. “This is all just new to me. I’m not really used to making friends like this.” His mouth hung open for a second and let his hand drop before adding, “or really having friends to begin with.”_

_It wasn’t meant to come out as a sad confession, but with the way the three of them looked at him, it seemed to have been taken that way. Changbin merely didn’t try too hard to make friends back in school. His time was usually used up in making music alone at his house. It wasn’t like everyone outcasted him for seeming like a scary looking delinquent._

_“We’ll be your friends,” Daniel chimed in from where he sat in the corner with his box of takeout fried chicken and Nintendo. “We won’t force it on you, but you can feel free to think of us as your friends.”_

_The sweet smile on Daniel’s face made Changbin know that he was being genuine. He patted the seat beside him, beckoning their new friend to sit. “Come on and stay awhile. Have some food and we’ll listen to your work.”_

  
  


**_Daniel_**

_@kdaniel_

_If Chan doesn’t jump on this, I think I might have to myself 😵_

**_Chan_ ** _@cbang_

_I’d be crazy not to_

  
  


**_Minho_ **

_@meowho_

_I believe that a THANK YOU is in order 😓_

  
  


**_Daniel_**

_@kdaniel_

_@cbang did you hear something?_

**_Chan_ ** _@cbang_

_You mean these sick lyrics? How could I not?_

**_Daniel_ ** _@kdaniel_

_@cbang damn, you’re right_

  
  


**_Minho_ **

_@meowho_

_😾_

  
  


_The four of them ate and talked amongst themselves until the clock was showing how late it was getting. The time had flown by with how indulged they all were in getting to know their new friend and exchanging works of the two production majors. Despite Changbin only having been with them all for a few hours, he felt like he had known them forever with the way they talked with him so comfortably._

_“It’s getting kind of late, do you want to head back?” Minho asked from beside Changbin. He glanced over to where Chan and Daniel sat across from them. “He doesn’t dorm here. He lives alone, so I wouldn’t want him to go back super late,” he explained so they wouldn’t think either of them just wanted to leave for the heck of it._

_“Oh you should have told us sooner,” Daniel blinked. “If we had known that we wouldn’t have kept you so long.” The slight frown on his face was a sure sign that he felt bad for not knowing. He was the responsible one, after all._

_“No, it’s alright,” Changbin waved his hands as he got up, gathering his things. “I don’t live very far from here.”_

_Minho joined him in getting up without another thought about it. If anything, he wouldn’t let Changbin show himself out. Who knows, he might get lost again._

_“Thanks again for doing this,” Changbin thanked the two older boys. “It was cool being able to swap songs like this.”_

_“Does this mean you’ll come back again?” Chan smiled hopefully, pining for a ‘yes.’_

_“Only if we get to share more things.”_

_Daniel leaned in closer to Chan to whisper, “it’s a good deal, you should take it. Besides, you can learn a lot from him.”_

_Chan let out a small laugh at that, nodding to Changbin afterwards. “Of course. The door is always open for you. Come anytime you want to.”_

_Minho and Changbin waved farewell to the two before heading out of the room and to the elevator. Side glancing, Minho caught sight of Changbin smiling down to the floor. It was a soft expression that made him sure that he had made the right decision with all of this._

_The two of them walked quietly together down the sidewalk and to the outskirts of the campus. Minho wasn’t leaving until he made sure that he safely saw Changbin in a taxi._

_“Thanks, hyung. For everything. You really helped me out a lot today.” Changbin shifted his weight until he was leaning against the back of his heels. “I’ll be honest, I wouldn’t have thought you would have bothered with someone like me.”_

_Minho tilted his head in slight confusion. “What do you mean, ‘someone like me’?”_

_Changbin played with the ends of his hoodie, looking down at his fingers as he did so. Shrugging he replied, “I don’t know, usually people don’t really approach me. But when I looked lost, you came to help me.”_

_“Well yeah, you look like you need someone,” Minho agreed. He let out a small sigh. “Look, I know what it’s like to be the new kid and not know anyone. I was in your shoes last year. But I got lucky with having a decent dormmate; although he can be a bit loud sometimes, and also finding Chan and Daniel hyung. They helped me so now it’s my turn. Besides, I don’t think you seem like a bad guy.”_

_Changbin felt himself smiling again. He felt warm inside. College was definitely a new experience to him, but even with it being only the first week, he knew he was going to enjoy it. At least with Minho being his friend and helping him adjust, he knew he would be okay._

_“Thanks, hyung,” was all he could say. He meant it. Even though it was just two small words, it meant a lot to him. No one had taken care of him like that before. No one thought he needed it._

_“I’ll see you in class later. Don’t be a stranger, you know where my and hyungs’ rooms are now,” Minho said as he watched Changbin’s ride pull up._

_“Right. I won’t. Goodnight, hyung.”_

_“Goodnight, Changbin.”_

_Just like that the four of them became friends. They spent time in between classes together, ate out together, and even stayed over at Changbin’s place often. In no time Changbin became one of their closest friends and they became the same to him._

_Chan and Changbin constantly played around with ideas of collabs while the other two supported them wholeheartedly. Changbin’s shell of shyness slowly but surely fell off when he was around all of them. They taught him how to stand a little bit taller; no pun intended._

_With him and Minho becoming more open with one another, they began to bicker on the daily. They swore that they couldn’t stand each other but at the end of the day, they both knew that everything that had been said was completely harmless and only done out of love. It amazed Chan and Daniel how they could switch between being best friends to archenemies so frequently. They would watch in wonder when the two of them would be seen hanging out around the campus together or even hear of them staying alone in Changbin’s flat. After a few months of it, they gave up ever trying to understand it and let them have their strange relationship._

  
  


**_Changbin_ **

_@spearb_

_These are probably the best decisions I’ve made in awhile_

**_Daniel_ ** _@kdaniel_

_🤝_

**_Minho_ ** _@meowho_

_If these are the best, I’d hate to see the worst_

**_Changbin_ ** _@spearb_

_@meowho that would be becoming friends with you 🥰_

  
  


**_Daniel_**

_@kdaniel_

_Here we go again…_

**_Chan_ ** _@cbang_

_I don’t know, I think it’s kind of endearing ☺️_

**_Daniel_ ** _@kdaniel_

_@cbang should I take you to the doctor?_

**_Minho_ ** _@meowho_

_If you’re going to the doctor, take Changbin too to get his head examined_

  
  


**_Daniel_ **

_@kdaniel_

_I can’t wait until I graduate soon…_

**_Chan_ ** _@cbang_

_😢_

  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The story will continue in present day with the next chapter (: Thank you as always for reading! Please feel free to leave feedback, thoughts, or concerns in the comment section ❤︎ I like responding to you guys


	27. Chapter 27

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome back~ The Minsung agenda is staying on track with the start of this chapter and will speed up just a bit. I’m sorry I carried it out for so long ｡ﾟ(ﾟ´ω`ﾟ)ﾟ｡
> 
> *Wow I hit 100k words (*ﾟ▽ﾟ*)

* * *

“Are you sure you want to go to class?”

It was the fifth time this morning that Felix had asked that question. He was paranoid about how his friend was feeling and wanted to do his best to make sure that he wouldn’t push himself too much. Jisung had started accusing him of acting like a helicopter parent.

“Felix,” Jisung sighed out as he slung his bag over his shoulder. “I’m _fine_. This entire weekend I’ve done nothing but relax. I’m going to class. I’m not using up anymore skip days than I need to.”

There was an uneven frown painted across Felix’s face. It was clear that he wasn’t too convinced with it. Moreso it was like he was a mama bird that was too scared of letting her baby out of the nest for it being too soon. Not like birds frequently thought like that. Most birds shove their little ones out of the nest without a second thought, but not Felix. Felix was far too caring.

Moving over towards him, Felix wrapped his arms around his friend lovingly. “Okay, but just know that I love you and I support you.”

Jisung patted Felix’s head softly, his hair bouncing back up after he lifted his hand. “Yes, Felix. I know. I love and support you too, now let’s go.”

  
  


( Hyung. Please come get him )

[ image attached ]

( He’s been like this with me all weekend )

  
  


**[not] dark rapper hyung**

( I’d love to switch )

( Hyung’s been with me more this past weekend than he has all month it seems 😩 )

  
  


( ? Don’t you stay in Chan hyung’s dorm everyday )

  
  


**[not] dark rapper hyung**

( Uh- )

( Anyways I’ll be happy to take Lix off your hands for you )

( it will save me my sanity )

  
  


( Oh hyung, you had that? )

( I never knew you had some )

  
  


**[not] dark rapper hyung**

( 😑 )

( I’m going to remember this )

  
  


“You’re going to classes again starting today, right?”

Despite not having classes until later on in the morning, Chan was already awake by the time Minho got up to leave. The three of them moved back to Chan’s dorm the night prior just so none of them would have to get up earlier to commute back to the university from where Changbin resided. Minho took the liberty of bringing his stuff along so he wouldn’t have to stop by his own dorm room before leaving.

“Finally,” Minho nodded as he grabbed his bag to pull over his shoulder. “It’s about time that I’m able to get back into my regular routine. Now I have to catch up on a week’s amount of work.”

“Oh thank _god_ ,” Changbin murmured from where he lay still on the couch. With the way his back was facing the two, it would have seemed that he had been asleep this entire time. Little did they know he was actually awake and on his phone the entire time. “Hyung, stay late in all of your classes so you can catch up with what you missed, okay?”

What he actually meant was, _please use up all of your time there so you don’t have to hang around me anymore_. Understanding that exactly, Minho walked over to playfully hit him on the butt with a spare throw pillow and told him to go back to sleep. It seemed like they were back to treating each other like normal.

He sighed at the thought of his situation. It may have only been a few classes that he missed, but it was enough time to fall behind with how long his classes are.

“I believe that you're capable enough to get back on track. But don’t push yourself too hard,” Chan warned. He knew Minho’s habits all too well. “It won’t do you any good if you become reckless and get hurt again.”

“It was never my intention to get hurt in the first place,” Minho reminded with an eye roll. “I’m heading out now. Go back to sleep, Changbin. No one wants to hear you.”

Minho missed the way Changbin huffed under his breath as he was already headed out the door and to the elevator.

  
  


Just like any other normal morning, his first destination was to the campus café where he would order his pick me up. He was headed to the line when he heard someone calling him from the side.

“Minho hyung.”

Turning his head to the direction of the voice, he found Seungmin sitting at a table with his only company being two cups and an open book in front of him. The younger boy was smiling and waving him over.

“How long have you been here?” Minho asked as he approached to study the two cups on the table. He couldn’t tell how full they were since the cups weren’t transparent, but assumed one must have been empty if there were two. “You’re already on your second one?”

Shaking his head, Seungmin corrected, “no, one is for you. Just the way you order it.” He gestured to the seat in front of him for him to sit and take it.

“For me?” Minho pointed at himself before sitting down and accepting the drink. “What’s the occasion?”

Seungmin gave a simple shrug, closing his book softly with a piece of paper inside to mark where he left off. He rested his cheek against his hand, leaning into it as he watched the older try his coffee.

“I thought maybe you needed something like that today but it seems like you’re already better.”

“Better?” Minho repeated, setting his free coffee back onto the table. “Do you think I looked depressed?”

Minho was one to usually have his outward emotions under control. Though speaking for himself, he didn’t know if others found him to be slipping up on his calm and cool act. It didn’t seem like even Changbin or Chan had caught onto what he was feeling until he came clean to them himself.

“ _Looked_ depressed? No. I think you portrayed yourself very well, actually. You’re a lot better at it than the next guy,” Seungmin admitted, smiling afterwards. “Speaking of the next guy,” he mused, sliding himself back in his chair so that he could stand up. “I think I should go check on them.”

He gathered up his bag, neatly placing his book inside of it and closing it up. Softly he pushed his chair back into place and leaned against it so that he was tilted towards Minho ever so slightly.

“See you later, hyung,” he winked before being on his way.

  
  


**Minho**

@meowho

It’s a good day?

**Chan** @cbang

Everyday is a good day if you believe in yourself 🙌

**Changbin** @spearb

As long as you stay away from me it will be

  
  


Despite always going to the café in the mornings, Seungmin manages to still beat his friends to their first class. At this point in time, he would think that at least Hyunjin would beat him just once one day with the way he always makes sure to get the older up before he leaves. If it weren’t for him, Hyunjin just might disregard his entire set of alarms and not show up to class at all.

As if he were speaking of the devil, Hyunjin appeared at the doorway shortly after Seungmin got settled at his self-assigned seat. He stopped just inside. Looking around the room, he took note of how there were only a total of four of them in there currently. Sighing, he took his spot beside Seungmin.

“You’re pretty fast for someone that hangs out at the café all morning.”

“You’re pretty slow for someone that I wake up before I even go to said café,” Seungmin quipped back playfully with a smirk.

Hyunjin folded his arms down on the table to make a pillow for his head. He huffed dramatically, facing in the opposite direction of his friend. “Whatever.”

It was so easy for him to feign hurt, though he knew Seungmin was not at all affected by it. Still it didn’t stop the younger from reaching a hand out and gently patting his head.

“There, there, you big baby.”

Hyunjin was about to respond with something else when suddenly he heard the very loud conversation that belonged to his two twin-like friends that came into the room.

  
  


**Hyunjin**

@hwangjin

It seems like everything is back to normal 😶

  
  


At the dismissal of the class, Jisung allowed a thorough conversation with Seungmin unlike the previous week as they walked together towards their next classes. Seungmin didn’t miss the way that Jisung was smiling easier and back to being vocal as he was known for.

“A weekend can definitely change a person, it seems,” Seungmin casually stated, analyzing the boy beside him. “Did you go on another day trip?”

“Day trip?” Jisung repeated, then remembered how he went to Jeongin’s a while back. “Oh, no. I just slept a lot. Going into a self-induced coma does wonders to your mood.”

That explained why he had been so quiet and MIA the past few days. It was relieving to the younger that his friend hadn’t needed to go on another rendezvous to sort himself out.

“I’m glad that sleeping a lot helped you. Being happy and relaxed is a good look on you.”

Jisung couldn’t help but to feel a bit bashful at that. It was true that sleeping an ungodly amount of hours did a number to his spirit, but he couldn’t have possibly been able to get this far if it hadn’t been for his friends supporting him. It was a wonderful feeling to him and he wasn’t about to let them down.

  
  


**Jisung**

@hansome

Everything is better 😌

**Jeongin** @notyouroppa

🥳

  
  


With Jisung feeling more like himself than he had in the past month or so, he found himself doing something he hadn’t done for so long. After his classes were finished and once he knew that Felix would be dealt with so he wouldn’t be attached to Jisung’s hip, the silver haired boy let himself walk through the doors of the performance building.

It had been such a taboo for him. He thought before that at any second he would come through the doors, he would see the person he last wanted to see. His willingness to avoid them was so strong that he had gladly given up all projects he had stored on the computer that sat in his little production booth. He felt bad for the orphaned works. If he had known things would have turned out the way they did, he would have at least saved them to an external location. At least now he could save them.

Making his way to the ground floor of the building, Jisung couldn’t help but to shoot a moving glance in the window of the dance studio that Minho frequented. With the room lacking his presence, he wasn’t sure if he was relieved or not. Looking straight ahead again, he turned the corner and stayed en route for his booth.

The room was as dark as he had left it when he opened the door. It didn’t seem like anyone else had used it much in the time that he didn’t. If someone had, they did a great job of keeping everything clean.

With the spine of his notebook, he flicked on only one of the lights. It was more than enough light in the room to clearly see everything. After softly shutting the door and locking it for security, he dropped his bag on the floor beside the chair and sat down in front of the monitor.

Hitting the spacebar on the keyboard, the monitor was brought to life. It added just a bit more luminance to the space in front of him. He took his time in logging in and getting the file opened that had all of his work saved to it. Enough time had passed for him to forget what all was even there. His hand on the mouse went still when his eyes fell on the work in progress audio file that had Minho’s abbreviation on it.

“Oh, right… that was a thing.”

The memory of having been so helplessly deep into a crush that he also started composing a piece that reminded him of the boy had slipped his mind. But looking at just the title of it now lit the lightbulb above his head in remembrance. It had been long enough for him to forget what it even sounded like. Curiously, he double clicked on the file until it was opened up in his music program. He hit the spacebar again to let it play.

It was an outlier to what he normally produced. He liked writing calm melodies that would be good for relaxing to. This one had energy to it. Listening to just the first ten seconds of it, Jisung was reminded of how he felt at the beginning of the semester. He was reminded of how he felt for Minho. He was reminded of the time that he didn’t hate him with a burning passion or never want to cross paths with him. He was reminded of the time he’d try to steal glances when he would just by chance pass by him.

Leaning into his hands, Jisung let out a soft laughter. It was crazy how something he made so long ago still had vivid memories of his attached to it. He had done an incredible job at preserving them in the simplicity of beats and melodies. If he had the chance to hear this before he came to terms with everything, he probably would have deleted it out of denial for ever feeling that way. But right now, the last thing he wanted to do was that.

Setting the volume down low, Jisung let the audio track play on loop as background music as he worked on other things in his notebook. Another tune came to his head and he began to hum it softly as he bounced his leg in time. He rested his cheek in his left hand while his right scribbled out words into his notebook that came to him.

At this moment his heart felt lighter. His inspiration had come back to him and words were flowing from his pen to the paper. It all felt so much easier to get work done. He managed to stay working like that for an hour or so before he felt himself getting hungry.

By this time the looping of the music had been tuned out. New chords and ideas filled its spot long ago and Jisung had been sure to take note of them all so he wouldn’t forget. Before closing out of everything, he copied all of his files to an external source so that he wouldn’t have to worry about not being able to get to them later on. Not that he wouldn’t come back here or anything, he just wanted to have them easier to access.

Once everything was back to the way he found it, he unlocked the door to open it. He then flipped the light switch back off with his notebook and held it close to him as he headed out.

Coming back the way he came, Jisung passed by the dance rooms again. This time he stopped in the window to watch those in there. It was a group of girls all dancing synchronically to a popular girl group song that was recently released. He thought it was amazing how they all had it down perfectly despite how long it’s been out. He admired the way the dancers were able to do something like that in a short amount of time.

Watching until the end of routine, Jisung decided to head on his way to finally go eat. At the second he turned to continue walking, he collided with a solid body and heard a thud. Startled, he hid his face behind his notebook. Luckily for him he hadn’t been to one to fall thanks to him being beside the wall, but he was scared to see who he ran into. First he peeked over his book slowly then nearly threw it down when he saw who it was.

“Shit, sorry, hyung!” He apologized quickly.

Of course. Of course he had to run into Minho. The downed boy had fallen straight on his butt and dropped his phone in the process. He must have been looking at that when they collided.

Stuffing his notebook in his armpit, Jisung stopped down to pick up the fallen phone and hand it back to him with both hands. “I’m sorry, I didn’t see you there.”

Instead of looking at his phone that was being handed out to him, Minho watched the apologetic look in Jisung’s eyes. _Jisung? Was he looking for me here?_ He couldn’t help but want to believe that was the case. He needed to get up, this was a bit embarrassing with the way he still hadn’t moved.

“No, I’m sorry,” Minho shook his head, finally taking his phone back. “I wasn’t paying attention to where I was going. That was my fault.”

Jisung reached out to grab him by the hand and pull him up. He looked him over carefully. “Did I hurt you?”

Minho wanted to laugh. Jisung could have pushed him down the stairs and he still would have claimed to be perfectly fine.

“No, I’m fine. I’m good,” he promised, dusting himself off. “What are you doing here?”

“Oh,” Jisung subconsciously closed his bicep tighter against his notebook that he kept under there. “I was just working on some stuff. But I’m done now so I was just heading out.”

Minho nibbled at the inside of his cheek. This was an opening for him, but he wondered if he should take it. He tried to think about what Chan would tell him to do. Swallowing, he made up his mind.

“I was just leaving too.”

Jisung nodded slightly at that and was about to say his farewell when Minho continued.

“So, if you want… have you eaten yet?”

Though he was trying his best to seem calm and cool, there was a hint of a hopeful look in Minho’s eyes.

  
  


**Minho**

@meowho

Oh my god I think I’m going to die

**Seungmin** @songmin

It’s hard to tell whether or not Hyunjin had posted on the wrong account

  
  


**Hyunjin**

@hwangjin

The amount of disrespect I get for just existing

**Chan** @cbang

Changbin? Is that you?

  
  


**Changbin**

@spearb

Everyone shut up, Felix is making me cookies

**Chan** @cbang

Oi Felix, make me some cookies too bro 😋

**Changbin** @spearb

@cbang back off my boyfriend 😡

**Chan** @cbang

But that’s my bro, bro 😢

**Felix** @fabulix

I’m reading all of this in a strong Aussie accent

**Hyunjin** @hwangjin

@fabulix I want to hear that 👀

  
  


**Jisung**

@hansome

Why is everyone so LOUD

**Jeongin** @notyouroppa

Hypocrite.

  
  


**Jisung**

@hansome

Quiet time.

  
  


Minho led Jisung to the strip that had a lot of good restaurants lined down it. He took a guess that the younger would be hungry after staying busy with his music for so long. It was just his luck that Jisung loved food and didn’t have a problem with eating a lot.

They settled on a popular BBQ joint; one that was no stranger to the students at their university with it being so close to the campus. Jisung took it upon himself to sit at a table by the wall that had a window for him to be able to watch the outside world.

“Are you sure?” Jisung asked after Minho told him he could have whatever he wanted and insisted on paying for it all.

Minho didn’t care about the price. He was floored when Jisung accepted his offer of eating with him. The best part was that he didn’t seem hesitant. If this is what it took to work his way at him, he’d do it time and time again.

“I told you,” Minho nodded. “It’s my treat. Think of this as part of my apology.” He began piling more meat onto Jisung’s plate for him. “Now eat. All of it. And have some soju while you’re at it.”

It was hard for him to not want Jisung to eat to his heart’s content with the way he shoved it all into his mouth until his cheeks threatened to burst. He wondered just how in the world all of that food managed to stay inside and how Jisung didn’t choke with all that was in there. He’s impressive, he thought to himself with a hand propping his head up so he could watch the squirrel-like boy eat. Chan would always be ranked first in how much food could be eaten in one sitting, but Minho bet that the boy stuffing his face in front of him could definitely contend for a close second place.

“By the way,” Jisung abruptly started once he swallowed all that was stored in his cheeks. “I wanted to ask at the time, but I was too annoyed to do so, but how did you find me?” It had been a question sitting on his mind since that night and he could never figure out the answer to it. “I know you weren’t taking a midnight stroll down there.”

Jisung poured both of their shot glasses up with the soju that had been sitting between them on the table. Accepting the shot glass in his fingers, Minho shook his head. “Seungmin told me.”

Halfway throwing his drink back into his mouth, Jisung choked on it. Slamming the now empty glass back down, Jisung lowered his head and coughed against the back of his hand. “W-what?” He asked in a strained voice, his throat still not clear.

“Seungmin,” Minho repeated with furrowed brows, wondering if he had spoken clearly enough. He was offering Jisung a napkin as he added, “he texted me the location and told me to go there without any context. I wasn’t sure what I thought was going to be there but I’m glad I went anyways.”

“Seungmin? As in Kim Seungmin?” Minho nodded in affirmation. “Kim Seungmin, the same guy that’s in my year and who is friends with me and Felix? You know him?”

“Yes… A lot of people know him,” Minho nodded again, not sure why Jisung was so shocked. “He’s really popular around the campus but I always see him at the café in the mornings. I asked him to take that drink to you that one day, actually,” he reluctantly admitted. By the way he was glancing off to the side, it was clear that that had been something he wouldn’t have minded keeping to himself.

Jisung dropped his chopsticks just after having picked them up, letting them clash against the plate below. He probably should just stop trying to hold onto anything for a minute. His face was the shade of a piece of paper as if he had seen a ghost. “That was from _you_ ?!” He asked a tad bit too loudly. He couldn’t believe this. _I remember that Seungmin said he had been the one to bring tha- oh wait a second._

“I told him not to say it was from me since I didn’t think you’d take it if he did. And I really didn’t want to make it into a big deal or anything,” Minho admitted, leaning back just a tad. “Thinking back on it now, I think that’s what caused him to find out about everything. I guess it was a bit too obvious. So, sorry about that.”

Jisung still hadn’t moved even at this point. His mouth was hung open in shock and his eyes stared straight ahead. “Then… by chance, was he talking about you when he mentioned me having a fan?”

Had Seungmin really not been flirting with him all this time? Was he really just working for Minho without him knowing? Suddenly their talks came to mind and it all became more clear. Felix was going to have to hear about this one.

“He said that?” Minho let out a nervous laugh, his eyes wandering to the window. Thank god for a distraction. “Who knew that puppy was actually a fox? I didn’t even know he was helping me like that.” He looked back in Jisung’s direction with a concerned look. “Hey, are you alright?”

Jisung was hiding in his hands, groaning internally. He felt like such an idiot for thinking the way he did. To say he was embarrassed right now would be an extreme understatement.

“I knew he was onto something when he outed me on how I don’t let people talk. And I knew he knew everything too. But, I didn’t know his intentions were to help you. Ugh I’m such an idiot…”

Minho watched him with an amused expression. Was Jisung an idiot? He thought so more than anything, but at least his cuteness made up for that fact.

“Be honest,” Minho said, transferring more meat from the grill to their plates before it burned. “If Seungmin told you that he was trying to get it to where I could freely talk to you, would you have listened to him?”

Slowly Jisung picked up what was on his plate and stuck it into his mouth, trying to stifle the pout on his face. With his lack of acting skills, Minho didn’t need to hear his answer to know that he wouldn’t. Even though Seungmin may not know Jisung as well as Felix might, he was more than enough aware of how hard headed and stubborn Jisung acted; especially when he was angered. It was better that Jisung was kept in the dark about everything. He couldn’t have done as much damage as he could have if he knew what was going on. There would have been no way in hell that Jisung would have let Minho talk without Seungmin’s interference. For that, Minho was extremely grateful.

With the help of more food and a few more drinks, the two of them comfortably enjoyed the rest of their meal and became more open. They had settled down afterwards at a nearby park on a bench. Both had been too full to move very far.

The two of them sat with space in between them; neither wanted the other to feel like their personal space was being invaded. Minho especially treaded carefully with how he acted around Jisung. The last thing he wanted to come across as was pushy.

The older was casually leaned back against the back of the bench. With a bent arm on top of the back of it, he rested his head in his hand. Out of fear for talking and disturbing the peace, he merely watched the cars and people pass by.

“I hadn’t been looking for you,” Jisung suddenly confessed, looking up at the sky. This caused Minho to turn his head just enough to see him. “I was just passing by the room and was curious to who was in there and what they were doing.”

Minho felt like that was a lie. Maybe he just wanted it to be a lie. Whatever it was, he had no intentions to challenge it. He let him talk.

“I was a bit relieved to see you anyways.” Jisung sure was full of confessions tonight with the help of some soju. He hadn’t been drunk. He was far from that, but he did feel more loose. “After today, I’m happy that I did run into you.”

Bringing his head back down with a sigh, Jisung turned his body so that he could face the other more. “We really got off on the wrong foot… more than once or twice too,” he frowned slightly. “I don’t think that’s fair, so… can we just start from scratch as friends?”

_As friends_ put a damper on Minho’s heart though he knew it had the opportunity to grow with it. After everything that had happened, he wouldn’t blame Jisung for not liking him anymore. He himself wouldn’t stop liking Jisung so right now he knew it would be best to willingly accept those terms.

“I don’t know you and you don’t know me,” Minho started, sitting more upright now. “We just met inside that restaurant. You joined me because I looked lonely and I paid because I thought you were cute.” He paused, wondering if that last part was okay to even say. The soju he had earlier really did make him say things without another thought. His eyes wandered off for a moment before he dared to look in Jisung’s direction again. The younger didn’t seem to have any complaints so far so he continued.

“We came out here and started talking. It turns out we both go to the same university and have mutual friends.”

Playing along, Jisung added, “and I said that I think dance majors are cool. And that you seemed cool too.” He was smiling unevenly. He wasn’t very good at this. His brain wasn’t clear at the moment. Instead he should have just let Minho finish.

Minho chuckled at his attempt and nodded. “Sure. And let’s say that we both just wanted to get to know the other more. As friends.”

The second time was easier to hear than the first; especially when he was the one saying it. He knew that they had to start somewhere. This would do just fine for him.

The two of them agreed to start over their acquaintance with a clean slate. They got their story settled before heading back to campus. That was enough for the first day.

“Do you really think dance majors are cool?” Minho had to ask as they walked towards the dorms.

“Well, yeah,” Jisung nodded. “My best friend is one. Besides, I envy them for always moving around. I could never. I like sitting in one spot and staying there.”

Minho smiled at the way the younger was speaking so comfortably now. “I guess you could say that I’m also envious of production majors.”

“Why? Because we get to be lazy compared to you?”

“Chan hyung is the un-laziest person I know,” Minho protested with a stern look in his eyes. “I just like the way they’re able to come up with the things they do. The things that I want to dance to.”

Jisung hadn’t really thought about it like that. Now that he did, he found it to be a bit amusing. Not only did the two of them fall into that category, but also Changbin and Felix did too.

“Is that why you’re friends with Changbin and Chan hyung?”

It took Minho a moment to understand what he meant, but when he did, he simply shook his head. “No, I would never use our friendship to have them make songs for me. That was never my intention. We just got along and I like their company.”

“It’s hard to believe that you and Changbin hyung are friends,” Jisung joked.

Minho let out a breath of a laugh at that. No one ever really understood why or even how they were actually really good friends. It was funny to him in all honesty. “It would probably be even harder for you to believe that I was his first friend here.”

Jisung tripped on his way into the elevator to get up to his floor. Minho’s smooth reflexes were the only thing saving him from smacking his face into the side of the elevator, but neither of the two let the fact get noticed. Jisung merely pressed both of their floor numbers and leaned against the rail as the door closed.

“You’re right, that _is_ even harder to believe.”

Minho stayed at the adjacent side of the elevator with a small pout on his face. “Why, does Changbin talk bad about me?”

“Oh- no, I didn’t mean that.” Jisung rubbed the back of his head, now feeling bad for making it sound like that. “I just see the way you two fight on the timeline.”

Minho blinked. “You see my tweets?”

“I don’t follow you or anything, but I can see hyung’s just fine and your replies show up there,” Jisung explained as he felt the elevator stop on his floor. The doors opened and he looked back at Minho once he was at the threshold. “Well, I guess this is it for now. See you later?”

Minho nodded. “Yeah, see you.”

Jisung bowed his head to him before turning away and heading towards his room. The elevator doors began closing, cutting off Minho’s view of him. Once they were completely shut, Minho let himself fall into a crouched position. The only thing he had to hold himself up with had been the rail. With Jisung out of sight, he didn’t need that anymore.

“God, I thought I was going to pass out,” he exasperated with a hand over his heart. The pulse underneath his hand had been going crazy this entire time. Keeping a stoic act was becoming quite the challenge for him when it came to Han Jisung.

To say the least, he was more than satisfied with today. He kicked his shoes off at the door and flopped down onto his bed face first. Rolling over with a big smile on his face, he let himself rest there for a moment in a starfish position. After replaying today’s events in his head, he took out his phone to text a friend.

  
  


( I owe you a lot more than I thought I did )

  
  


**SM 🐶**

( You don’t owe me anything )

  
  


( Don’t kid yourself )

( I wouldn’t have gotten this far without you )

  
  


**SM 🐶**

( I didn’t do it alone 😙 )

( By the way, hyung )

( Hyunjin said he saw you two leaving together )

  
  


( Both of you are sneaky 😶 )

( We just went to eat. He suggested we start from scratch as friends. )

  
  


**SM 🐶**

( ☺️ )

( In your case, starting from scratch will benefit you )

( I think we can leave the rest of this to you now )

  
  


( I think I can manage )

( Thanks again, Seungmin. You and Hyunjin both helped me a lot )

  
  


**SM 🐶**

( It’s what we do 😊 )

  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> See you next Monday~


	28. Chapter 28

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome back~ This chapter is a bit longer than usual; I hope you don’t mind the pinch of Changlix I added after the first draft was done (*´꒳`*)
> 
> I start back at college today so I’ll sadly be a lot more busy than I have been all summer. The good news is, I still have the next 4 chapters already prewritten* so I’m still on track for updating next Monday.
> 
> *Even though they are prewritten, there is still a good chance of changing/adding things; much like how I did this chapter. It just depends on the sort of feedback I get or if any new ideas come to me.
> 
> Now back to the Minsung agenda ☆〜（ゝ。∂）

* * *

**  
Jisung**

@hansome

It’s 3am and I just woke up remembering I have a test tomorrow 💀

  
  


**Jisung**

@hansome

Rip. Sounds like a problem for me in the morning. I’m going back to sleep ✌️

**Jeongin** @notyouroppa

It sounds like I’ve rubbed off on you

**Chan** @cbang

You’ll hate yourself in the morning 😓

  
  


Once morning finally rolled around, Jisung very much did in fact hate himself. Even though his test was later in the day, he felt like he didn’t have nearly enough time to study. When he got to the dorm last night and saw that Felix wouldn’t be coming back until the next day, Jisung took it upon himself to play his video games instead of thinking anything about the test.

He sat on his bed, groaning into his hands for all of the ill decisions he had made. He knew sitting there like this wasn’t helping his case any, but he needed to get it out before he could get motivated to move.

  
  


**Jisung**

@hansome

Which one of you let me do this

**Felix** @fabulix

I told you before I left to study 😡

**Jeongin** @notyouroppa

@fabulix he can’t be trusted 🙄 You need to hold his hand at all times

  
  


**Minho**

@meowho

* **** ** **** *** **** 😶

**Changbin** @spearb

I love Se oCha ngb innn

**Minho** @meowho

@spearb please get off my page

  
  


**Changbin**

@spearb

But was I wrong?

**Felix** @fabulix

Everyone loves you 🥰

  
  


At the first chance he got, Jisung made his way to the campus library, hoping to find someone that could help him. Was there some shame in admitting that he had forgotten about his test and needed someone to cram information into his head? Jisung didn’t think so. He just didn’t want to fail.

Looking all around the library like a meerkat, Jisung searched high and low for his friend. He was wishing on everything that he would be here. He usually was. Just as he was about to give up and cut his losses, he noticed a familiar jacket somewhere in his peripherals.

Off to the far end of the library, nearly blocked off from view by the rows of bookshelves sat Seungmin with his back facing Jisung. He was alone at one of the smaller tables with a book in front of him. One hand was propping his head up while the other turned the pages.

Jisung made a beeline for the table, trying his very best not to run. It would be a shame if he got kicked out before he even got to him.

“Seungmin!” He sighed in relief once he reached the table. He was hugging his class notebook in his arms with a hopeful expression on his face. “Are you busy?”

Glancing up at the visitor, Seungmin removed an earbud from his ear. “I’m sorry, what was that? I didn’t hear you.”

“Busy?” Jisung repeated, keeping his toothy smile in place in hopes he would say no.

Seungmin’s eyes went from Jisung to his book to Jisung again, shaking his head at the end of it. “No, not really,” he answered then asked, “is this about your test?”

Immediately, Jisung threw himself into the chair beside him, dropping his notebook onto the tabletop in effort to reach his hands out to hold onto Seungmin’s. He looked at him with the most pitiful look that he could muster.

“ _Pleeeeeeeease_ will you help me cram for my test?” He begged pathetically.

“Are you trying to give me puppy dog eyes? You know I invented those,” Seungmin chuckled amusedly.

“Seungmiiiinnn,” Jisung continued, trying his best to keep his voice down but still gaining the looks of those near to them. One would think that as busy as the library was right now, no one would bother with him. Still, right now he had hardly in shame left in him.

Jisung put his face down in his arms, still holding onto Seungmin’s hands as he moved them up and down in an effort to wear Seungmin down. It was only that Seungmin was too used to these sorts of antics from Hyunjin that right now he wasn’t even phased.

Seungmin waited patiently for Jisung to lift his face back up to look at him. “Are you done?”

With a straight face all Jisung said was, “your hands are soft.”

A beat of a second passed before they both laughed, taking their hands back. Defeated, Seungmin put his own book away in favor of pulling Jisung’s notebook closer to him. He flipped open the pages and asked, “okay, what do you need help with?”

Smiling brightly, Jisung scooted his chair closer to his and started showing him the parts that would be on his test. Together they worked to make sure Jisung knew what he needed just in time for his test.

  
  


**Jisung**

@hansome

Seungmin is an angel 😇 That’s it. That’s the tweet

**Hyunjin** @hwangjin

Agreed

**Minho** @meowho

Agreed

**Changbin** @spearb

Agreed

**Jisung** @hansome

@spearb you know him too??

**Changbin** @spearb

Everyone does

  
  


**Seungmin**

@songmin

Everyone likes me 🤗

  
  


**Hyunjin**

@hwangjin

**** **** **** ******

**Minho** @meowho

LeeM inho isac oolguy

**Changbin** @spearb

@meowho hyung, you’re embarrassing yourself

**Minho** @meowho

@spearb at least mine fits 😑

**Hyunjin** @hwangjin

@meowho I mean, you’re not wrong

  
  


Despite having known everything on the test thanks to the help of Seungmin’s studying tricks, Jisung still took forever with finishing the test. He had looked it over once he finished to make sure he hadn’t misinterpreted anything. Only then was he able to confidently turn it in and dismiss himself from his class.

The only thing on his mind now that his test was over was the cheesecake that would be waiting for him in the commons. He had been so proud with the way he was able to successfully cram for his test and was sure that he would get an A. It was time for him to reward himself for his hard work with a piece of cheesecake that the culinary majors made on certain days.

It was only that once he got there, they had been sold out.

“I’m sorry, we ran out of ingredients so we couldn’t make as much as usual,” one of the culinary students apologized when Jisung asked where it all went. She especially felt bad for the way she knew how Jisung would always show up just for a slice.

There was a rain cloud pouring over Jisung’s head as he leaned against the counter in dismay. “It’s alright,” he assured in his most convincing voice even though he was far from feeling that way, “I should have been quicker.”

Jisung sulked away with his head hung low, disheartened at his luck. Suddenly remembering that Chan and Changbin frequented here around this time, he shot his head up and began to look around for either of the two. When he failed to find them, he called Chan.

“Yeees~?” Chan’s voice sang on the other end.

“Hyung,” Jisung smiled through his words. “By chance, did you happen to get some cheesecake at campus earlier?”

“Hm? No, I haven’t been that way today. Why?”

Jisung didn’t even try to stifle the heavy groan that escaped him. “They’re out and I was too busy taking a test to come earlier. What about Changbin hyung? Where has he been?” He asked, hoping maybe he got some just by a stroke of luck.

“My guess is that he’s with Felix somewhere. He hasn’t been back to my dorm yet today.”

“This is disappointing…” Jisung rubbed at his face. “Okay, that was all I needed then. I’ll come hang out later on. Bye, hyung.”

  
  


**Jisung**

@hansome

The hyungs have let me down. What is this betrayal?

**Changbin** @spearb

What did I do???

**Chan** @cbang

@spearb he’s sad because he didn’t get to have any cheesecake because he was taking a test 😅

**Changbin** @spearb

How was I supposed to know 😰

  
  


Changbin had been lounging around with Felix in the same seating area as that time it had been raining. They had taken over one of the couches with Changbin resting his head back with his phone above him and Felix sitting long ways with his legs across Changbin’s lap as he played some racing game on his phone. With the only separation being with each of their classes, the two hadn’t been apart since they arrived back on campus this morning. Changbin has been doing a bang up job of keeping Felix with him instead of worrying about his friend.

Changbin’s phone buzzed again with Minho’s contact invading his screen. He hovered his thumb over the accept button for a moment before he lowered it down and brought the phone to his ear.

“Hello?”

“Where are you?” Minho casually asked. The lack of haste in his voice made Changbin wonder why he was calling.

“Uh…” Changbin thought for a moment before answering, “with Felix.”

Felix glanced up at him for a moment then back to his game, not interested enough to ask questions.

“Where is that?”

Changbin narrowed his eyes a bit, not understanding what he needed. “In the main building past the lobby area.” There was silence from the other end. Looking at his screen, he saw that Minho had hung up on him without saying anything else. “Rude ass…” he muttered, going back to what he was originally doing on his phone.

“Who?” Felix questioned without even looking up from his own screen. He was tilting it each way with his tongue sticking out as he tried his best to get first place.

“Hyung. He called asking where I was and then hung up on me,” Changbin murmured. He thought for a moment before he put his phone back down and looked at Felix. “Do you think he’s on his way here? Should I make a run for it?”

“No, you’re my footstool,” Felix protested, putting a bit of pressure down on Changbin’s lap to reinstate that fact. “I’m comfy.”

Just like a cat had fallen asleep on him, Changbin made no moves to get up from his spot. If it was Felix forbidding him to go anywhere, who was he to complain?

  
  


**Changbin**

@spearb

I’m a footstool 🥰

**Minho** @meowho

You are one or you need one?

**Hyunjin** @hwangjin

💀

  
  


**Changbin**

@spearb

I’m just going to deactivate 😞

  
  


“There you are,” Minho sighed as he walked towards his friends. It had taken him a minute to get there, but he managed just the same.

“I told you I should have ran, Felix,” Changbin frowned.

“Calm down,” Minho folded his arms comfortably over his chest. “I’m not here for you. I need to borrow Felix.”

“Me?” Felix pointed to himself, finally pausing his game. Suddenly more interested in this conversation, Felix moved his legs off of Changbin so that he could face Minho. “For what?”

“Uhm…” Minho’s eyes shifted away as he tapped his pointer fingers against his crossed arms.

Changbin knew him all too well to not know what was going on in his mind with this act. There was a slight smirk on his face and he knew Minho saw it. He knew the older boy didn’t come to ask for Felix for something dance related or anything close to that.

“You should go with him, Lix. He needs your help specifically.” Changbin didn’t break the knowing eye contact. For once he had something over Minho and he was basking in the irritable look that he was receiving.

Dumbfounded, Felix sat there blinking between the two. Slowly he got to his feet and grabbed his bag from beside him. “Well okay… Then let’s get going.”

Minho narrowed his eyes at Changbin but got a cheerful wave in response.

“Bye, hyung~”

  
  


“We’re leaving campus?” Felix asked as Minho led him quietly out of the building and away from the rest of the campus.

“It’s not too far where we’re going,” Minho nodded. “I just need a small bit of your service is all.”

Without knowing what he meant, Felix continued to follow him to the shops and into a bakery. The glass cases were filled with different kinds of good-looking desserts but Minho went straight for the cheesecake section and looked between it and Felix.

“Which kind does Jisung like?”

  
  


**Felix**

@fabulix

Now just hang on a minute 👀

**Changbin** @spearb

😌 now you understand

  
  


“Ji- _Han_ Jisung?” Felix clarified, mouth hanging wide open. The last thing he thought was that Minho needed his help in picking out what kind of cheesecake his best friend prefers. He wondered just how much time had actually passed when he stayed the night at Changbin’s. Surely it couldn’t have just been one night.

“Why does no one ever think I’m talking about the same person they know?” Minho wondered aloud, thinking back to when Jisung had choked on soju over him saying Seungmin’s name.

“No, sorry, it’s just- hyung, have I missed something?” It was a real challenge for Felix to even get his words out right now.

Minho fumbled around in his jacket pocket until he retrieved his phone. With a few taps, he pulled up Jisung’s tweet about no one having saved him any cheesecake and showed it to Felix.

For a moment Felix could do nothing else except stare at the screen. Blinking, he looked back up to Minho’s eyes. “No, I mean, you and Jisung.”

“Oh,” Minho breathed, putting his phone away again. “Ah, we’re friends now,” he said because it was just that simple.

Felix’s eyes moved all around the older’s face, searching for anything that could help him understand better. The only problem was that Minho was back to having his facial features under his full control and they were null of anything useful.

“W-what? When did that happen? Why didn’t anyone tell me?”

“It just happened last night. We decided to start over from scratch. That’s all.”

There it was. There was a hint of a smile breaking through that Felix had been looking for. It was all he needed to decipher the rest.

“Oh I see,” Felix was now more relaxed now, eyeing him a bit devilishly. “In that case,” he started, walking down alongside the glass case until he stopped at a specific one. “This is the one. He’d like this the best.”

It was on the center rack surrounded by more fuller cakes. By the looks of the amount that was left, it was safe to say that it was among one of the best sellers.

Minho happily paid the cashier and accepted the bag with the selected slice of cheesecake in it. Once outside the bakery, he offered it out to Felix. “It’s not from me.”

Head tilting in confusion, Felix hesitantly took hold of the bag. “What? Why not?”

Shrugging his shoulders, Minho gave him a soft look. “It doesn’t matter to me. I want him to have it, but it doesn’t benefit me any with telling him who it was from. So, could you keep that detail out?”

Telling Jisung such details might be in the wrong direction that Minho would want to go in. Sure, it’s a known fact that Minho likes him, but he doesn’t want to keep reminding him of that. He didn’t want any sort of influence over what Jisung decides to do. If Jisung came to him in the end, he would rather it be by his own feelings, not by acts like this. Doing this right now was just because Minho wanted him to be happy, not because he was trying to sway his mind any faster.

Felix looked down to the bag in his hands then back to the older. He could understand where he was coming from so he nodded his head in agreement. “Sure. But hyung,” he spoke as they headed back to the campus. “Since I’m doing this… can you tell me how this happened? We have plenty of time along the way.”

“It’s not a very interesting story,” Minho shrugged but went along with telling him the details of the previous night anyhow.

  
  


**Felix**

@fabulix

Not very interesting, my ass

**Changbin** @spearb

Your ass? I think that is very interesting 😚

**Jisung** @hansome

Get a room 😒

**Changbin** @spearb

@hansome we did 😜

  
  


**Jeongin**

@notyouroppa

I’m deleting Twitter. Effective: immediately 🙈🙉🙊

  
  


**Felix**

@fabulix

CHANGBJN (ﾟωﾟ)

**Changbin** @spearb

What? It was a room and we were in it together

  
  


**Jisung**

@hansome

At this point, Felix is just calling himself out 🤥

**Felix** @fabulix

It wasn’t like that I swear 😫

**Jisung** @hansome

@fabulix Sure, Jan

  
  


Felix eventually made it to his dorm room after leaving Minho to go his own way once they made it to campus. Slowly he opened the door and peeked his head through. He stepped in once he saw Jisung was only cocooned in a blanket on the couch. The silver haired boy had been too busy watching some movie in the dark to acknowledge that he even came in.

“Jisung?”

The one in question merely hummed in response, not even looking over at the one calling his name.

Pressing his mouth into a thin line, Felix continued forward and rustled the bag that had the cheesecake in it. This earned a head turn from the other as if he were some sort of dog.

“What’s that?”

With a smirk Felix slowly reached in and pulled out the container that held what Jisung had been craving. Just as the tip of it rose into view, Jisung knew exactly what it was.

He flung himself off of the couch, falling as the result with the way he was wrapped up so well in the blanket. He struggled until he was free and dashed to get to his friend.

“Lixie, have I ever told you how much I love you and I’m so happy that you’re my soulmate?”

His eyes were shining brighter than the stars as he laid them on the cheesecake in Felix’s hand. Felix swore that he was drooling a little at the corner of his mouth.

Felix hummed contently and handed him the container, proceeding to watch his friend hop all around the room with it as if it were some sort of trophy. He came back to plant a quick kiss on Felix’s cheek before settling himself down at the table and going to town with his gift. It was incredible just how quickly a mood could change with some dessert.

“Felix,” Jisung murmured almost incoherently with the way his mouth was so full. “I love you. Like, I really _really_ love you a whole lot. Whole lot.”

“I love you too, Sungie. I’m sorry you didn’t get to have any earlier,” Felix apologized as he got Jisung a drink to wash it all down with.

“Screw that, this kind is way better. I can’t believe you actually went out and got this for me.” Jisung covered his face with his hands, feeling too touched to even look at him without tearing up.

Felix set his drink down in front of him before taking a spot at the table with him. He wanted to say that it wasn’t him that got it but someone else. In the end he knew that wasn’t what was asked of him so he continued to let Jisung believe what he did.

“You know, Sungie... I’m really proud of you.”

Jisung looked up at him and tried to say something that Felix could only dechyper as, “for what?”

“I’m just thinking and you’ve changed a lot. For the better,” Felix emphasized. “I know well before coming to university, you were a bit reckless and hard headed. But, with everything that you’ve been going through, I can see how much you’ve grown as a person.”

The Jisung he knew back then wouldn’t have reconsiled with Minho as many times as he has. He wouldn’t have even made the first apology that he did nor would he ever let themselves start over and become friends. Hell, he might have even gotten a bit violent with him at the first chance he got. Thinking back to when Jisung said he found his notebook in Minho’s room, Felix would have bet on anything that something worse would have gone down.

“I know Jeongin really mellowed you out. He definitely made you start having a soft side. But even past that, you’ve still continued to grow into a better person.” Felix was smiling softly as he played with a bracelet that hung around his left wrist. “You’re a lot more careful now. You’re not so quick to jump the gun anymore. You actually let people talk before you would think about punching them.

“I got a lot of help,” Jisung admitted. “Even though I was trying my best to keep everything to myself, I still let myself listen to what people like Jeongin and Seungmin had to say. It wasn’t easy for me, but they still taught me.”

“I heard that you’re friends now with Minho hyung,” Felix interjected, watching the way Jisung flicked his eyes away from his direction. “That alone shows how far you’ve come in being a bigger person. I’m proud of you.”

Jisung exhaled through his nose. He didn’t even get the chance to tell him that himself. Felix sure was getting quicker with obtaining information about him. “I still have a lot more work to do with everything. But everything is better now. You don’t have to worry about me anymore.”

Jisung put the last bite of the cheesecake slice into his mouth before casually changing the subject and asking, “so how was Changbin hyung?”

“I told you he didn’t mean it like that.” Felix deadpanned.

Jisung snickered at that. He was too easy to tease. “So then what was it? You stayed over all night and didn’t even reply to me until this morning,” he mused, leaning towards him. “You must have been busy doing _something_. And don’t say you were just baking cookies because I know that didn’t take you all night.”

With crossed arms Felix let out a small huff. His friend was so nosy.

  
  


_It was after Changbin had texted Felix asking him to come over. Just to be sure that he could get Felix off of Jisung’s back, Changbin piqued his interest in saying that he had something there for him. What it was, the little Aussie boy would have to come and find out for himself._

_Felix however felt it was wrong to show up empty handed and be the only person receiving something, so he took the liberty of stopping by a grocery store on his way over. He showed up with his hands full of the items he bought. Even though Changbin unlocked the door for him, he had to open it too._

_“What is all of this?” He asked, curiously eyeing the bag that Felix had both of his arms wrapped around._

_Felix was beaming brightly at him, seemingly excited for whatever the heck it was that he purchased. Since it was a solid shopping bag with an otter on it, it’s contents were a complete mystery._

_“You said you had something for me. So I thought, well, there would be a lot more happiness involved if I got something for you too.”_

_The way Felix was smiling at him stabbed Changbin straight through his heart. Excusing himself for a second, he softly shut the door between them so he could take a moment to crouch down and sob with his hands in his face. Felix’s kind heart and act of generosity had sent him into an emotional fit._

_“Binnie,” Felix called from the other side of the door, though the thickness of it barely allowed his deep voice to resonate through. “You have to let me in or you can’t get your gift.”_

_Once back together as best as he could get, Changbin stood back up to open the door again with a huge pout on his face. Taking the bag to place it gently on the ground, he wrapped his arms around his boyfriend’s shoulders._

_“Liiiiiiix you didn’t have to do that. Ugh, you’re so sweet,” he cried, swaying him side to side._

_“If it’s for you, I want to show you I care about you too,” Felix squeezed him back before moving to get the bag again and heading to the kitchen. “Now, I don’t want you helping. Just stay on the sides looking pretty.”_

_Changbin was more than happy sitting at the counter out of Felix’s way as long as he could gawk at how gorgeous he looked while he made cookies from scratch. Just the pure sight of Felix mixing and measuring and using his kitchen to his fullest content blew Changbin away. He thought he was going to have a heart attack with the way that the pink apron shaped Felix’s waist or the way that Felix had messily gotten flour all over the front of it._

_His heart was threatening to beat out of his chest when Felix extended the spoon out for him to taste test his progress. Instead of taking the spoon, he leaned across the counter to kiss off the bit of cookie batter that lingered on the bottom of Felix’s lip from where he tasted it himself._

_Sitting back down all of the way, Changbin licked his lips in thought. “I think it tastes pretty good.”_

_Felix’s entire face was as red as a tomato. He should have seen that coming, but in the end he was completely caught off guard. He was beginning to visibly struggle._

_“I-_ the spoon. The cookie batter _on the spoon_. You’d taste it better that way.”

_It came out in a flustered mix of Konglish, but Changbin still understood every word. “I thought it would taste sweeter on your lips though.”_

_Felix blinked at the realization that he understood him and Changbin noticed._

_“I’ve been making Chan and Jisung teach me English for you.”_

_It was Felix’s turn to pout out of how touched he was. He threw the spoon back into the bowl so that he could freely hug him._

_The two of them worked on cleaning up the kitchen as the cookies were baking. Once that was all said and done, Changbin brought Felix over to where his gift was._

_“I rearranged my entire working setup so that it would suit your gaming needs,” Changbin informed as he gestured to the closed spaced monitors lined up side by side. The counter space was cleared save for a keyboard and mouse. There was a headset sitting on the left most monitor, waiting for someone to use it._

_Felix could do nothing but freeze and stare in amazement at the offer. Once he regained control of his body, he took a step forward to rest his hand on the top of the chair and slide it across to the other end. He looked back at Changbin with diamonds shining in his eyes._

_“You did all of this? For me?”_

_“Why wouldn’t I?” Changbin asked. “And you don’t have to worry about me. I can still freely do what I need to with everything like this.”_

_Felix latched onto Changbin for a kiss. He just couldn’t think of a better way to express the way he was so grateful in this moment._

_“Damn, I wish I would have thought of this a lot sooner,” Changbin exhaled after finally pulling apart from him._

_The rest of the night was spent with just the two of them eating Felix’s cookies before Felix settled down in his new gaming space. All Changbin asked was to be able to sit in his lap leaning against him with his head on Felix’s shoulder as he played. His legs were stuck through the holes in the sides of the chair and his arms were lazily strewn around Felix’s neck. He had noise cancelling earphones in so Felix could be as loud as he wanted to without worrying about disturbing him. Changbin didn’t get in the way of his playing and was right there for Felix to hug when he was in between games. It was a win-win situation._

_When Felix had his fill and closed out of his games, he carefully rolled the chair back and stood up with a sleeping Changbin in his arms. He brought him all the way to his bedroom where he laid him down on the bed and gently removed the earbuds from his ears to place them where they belonged. The mattress shifted slightly under Felix’s weight as he crawled in beside him. He fell asleep soon after while holding the older in his arms._

  
  


“Oooooooooh,” Jisung grinned cheekily. “You kissed Changbinnieeee.”

Felix lightly and playfully kicked the leg of Jisung’s chair. “Don’t be a child, these are things you already know,” he huffed.

“So you admit that you two have kissed multiple times before then,” Jisung winked, snickering. He jumped out of his seat before it could get kicked again. “Alright, alright. I’ll stop,” he laughed as he migrated back towards his movie setup he had on the couch. “But I will say, Lix. You two are super cute and I love you both. You guys make my heart happy.”

“Just you wait,” Felix declared as he joined him. “Soon you will become our subject to tease.”

“Of course, Felix,” Jisung rolled his eyes as he played around with the remote to resume his movie.

  
  
  


[ image attached ]

( he really enjoyed the cheesecake )

( he passed straight out afterwards. he didn’t even get through 15 minutes of his movie )

  
  


**Minho Hyung 😽**

( I’m glad that he liked it )

( Thanks for giving it to him without saying it was from me )

  
  


( one day you’ll be able to give it to him yourself )

  
  


**Minho Hyung** 😽

( You think so? )

  
  


( I know so. )

( I just hope it’s soon. It’s killing me with the way I have nothing to tease him about like how he does me and Binnie 😿 )

  
  


**Minho Hyung** 😽

( Just remember that I have never done anything to you )

  
  


( but can you say that to Binnie 👀 )

  
  


**Minho Hyung 😽**

( … )

( I have a call to make )

( Good night Felix 😸 )

  
  


**Chan**

@cbang

I left the room for two minutes and come back to Changbin missing and my door wipe open.

**Hyunjin** @hwangjin

Whoever kidnapped him will probably return him soon

**Chan** @cbang

@hwangjin I can’t argue with that 🤔

  
  


**Minho**

@meowho

Something tells me he wasn’t kidnapped 😕

**Chan** @cbang

what makes you say that

**Minho** @meowho

@cbang Him banging on my door 😒

  
  


**Chan**

@cbang

This is a plot twist

**Daniel** @kdaniel

I thought we gave up trying to figure it out

**Chan** @cbang

@kdaniel It does seem easier, doesn’t it?

  
  


“Damn it, hyung, why do you have your door locked?”

“For fuck’s sake, I’m _coming_. Stop banging on my damn door for a second. You’re going to make me get noise complaints,” Minho groaned over the sound of Changbin beating against his door. He couldn’t figure out why the hell he was even there in the first place. He just wished that the man would calm down for a second to let him get to the door.

Using his head, Minho was smart enough to stand behind the door as he unlocked and opened it so that his guest; if you even call him that, wouldn’t accidentally smack him.

At the smallest opening of the door, Changbin charged his way through, nearly making Minho fall back at the force. He didn’t bother closing the door back before grabbing a hold onto either of Minho’s biceps, keeping him in place. There was a wildly concerning look in his eyes as he looked up at him.

“Hyung, you can’t do this to me!”

“Do what? Changbin what is wrong with you? Why are you in my room?” Minho interrogated before adding, “and keep your voice down, the door is still open.”

“ _Me?_ _You’re_ the one dying!”

“Dy- Changbin, I can guarantee you that I’m not going to be the one dying if you don’t let go of me,” Minho glared at him. He decided that Changbin must have been drinking something when he had called him. What other reason was there for him acting like this?

“If I let go do you promise you’re not going to die?”

“I have no clue what you’re talking about,” Minho started, shaking himself free of Changbin’s hold. “Shit, you’re strong,” he winced, rubbing the spots on his arms that he was held at.

“You randomly called me and started telling me how much you loved and supported me and-“

“Shhh!” Minho put a hand over his mouth to quiet him before finally shutting the door with his foot so the entire hallway couldn’t hear their seemingly embarrassing conversation. 

“Changbin. I’m not dying or anything,” Minho huffed, rubbing his temples in circles. “I was mainly joking.”

Changbin looked hurt at the confession. His shoulders hung down along with his arms at his sides, causing him to shrink considerably in size. There was a downcasted look of shock on his face. “What?”

No, that’s not what he meant. Minho sighed and pulled Changbin into a hug, surprising the both of them at the sudden gesture. It wasn’t common for him to hug Changbin like that.

“What I _meant_ to say was, what I said on the phone was true, but I didn’t say it because I’m dying or whatever you think,” Minho corrected. “I just did it because Felix was saying how he was tired of not being able to tease Jisung for the same thing that you and him get teased for. And the only person that would have a reason to tease _me_ about anything would be you; so I was just fluffing up your good side.”

Changbin pouted slightly with his chin rested on Minho’s shoulder. His arms were draped loosely around his waist. He realized now what Minho had been doing. “Well now I just feel like an idiot…”

“That’s because you _are_ an idiot,” Minho pointed out jokingly. “But I still love you either way.”

“So are you,” Changbin countered. “You’re not even dating anyone yet you’re worried about things like that.” He felt Minho physically deflate at that and couldn’t help but to feel bad and want to take back his words.

“There’s nothing that I can do about that...”

“I know, I’m sorry, hyung. That was mean. Listen,” Changbin finally pulled away from the hug. “Do you want me to stay and talk?”

Minho scoffed. “What am I, five?”

Changbin shrugged and reached for the door handle only to have his hand pulled away.

“You know what I mean,” Minho murmured under his breath, side-eying him with his face turned slightly away.

“Yeah, I know.” Changbin smiled slyly and settled himself on the couch.

Talking to each other about their problems had been something that they used to do frequently when they first met. Both of them had been really good listeners but neither of them lacked enough pride to want to ask to be heard. They were both equally stubborn like that but also balanced each other out. Minho had a bad habit of not properly taking care of himself so Changbin would have to step in to make sure he wasn’t pushing himself too much. Minho in turn was also always there inconspicuously taking care of the younger, but never took any credit for it. In the end they agreed to mutually accept the other’s help without any comments about it and continued like that ever since.

  
  


**Chan**

@cbang

I think they killed each other

**Daniel** @kdaniel

Each other? I think there would have to be a survivor

**Jeongin** @notyouroppa

My money is on the tall one

  
  


**Minho**

@meowho

I’m blocking all of you

**Felix** @fabulix

All but one?

**Minho** @meowho

@fabulix 😔

  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> See you next Monday~


	29. Chapter 29

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome back~ I’m posting this an hour early so I can get to bed before midnight hits. I’ve been writing a lot within this past week. I have completed the next 5 chapters already (wow~) though, they’re still subject to change.
> 
> This chapter includes a small time skip of a few days in the middle of it for the sake of not having a Naruto filler chapter
> 
> Anywho. Onto the story (:

* * *

  
( Hyung. I think I left something in your room )

  
  


**Best friend** 🐈

( That’s so weird )

( are you sure? )

  
  


( Now I am 😒 )

( Where are you? )

  
  


**Best friend** 🐈

( In class 😸 )

  
  


( Why are you texting in class? )

  
  


**Best friend** 🐈

( Why are YOU texting me while I’m in class? )

( Bin, I’m trying to learn here. Have some respect for your hyung, will you? )

  
  


( I- )

( I don’t have time for you right now. I’ll get my wallet back later 😩 )

( I’m turning my card off so you can’t use it )

  
  


**Best friend 🐈**

( Will you turn your cash off too? 😚 )

  
  


( 😾 )

  
  


**Changbin**

@spearb

No, sorry, officer. I don’t know a Lee Minho.

**Felix** @fabulix

Hyung got arrested?

**Changbin** @spearb

@fabulix not yet 😒

  
  


**Minho**

@meowho

Good thing I have plenty of bail money for myself 🤑

  
  


**Changbin**

@spearb

I’m never going to be able to financially recover from this 🤕

  
  


Minho had noticed the forgotten wallet after Changbin had already left. With the way he found it laying in the bed under the covers with him, he assumed it had somehow fallen out of Changbin’s pocket at some point in time last night. He had put it safely away into his own pocket so he could return it later. It was full of big bills enough to where the chances of Changbin actually noticing one or two missing would have been slim, but there was no chance that Minho would actually take the money out of it. Letting the owner know that would be no fun to him at all, though.

Returning the wallet had been the first priority of his until he noticed Jisung seemingly hard at work in his production booth. Minho had been heading to his dance class when he had allowed himself to glance into the room. He had made sure to keep away from being in direct line of sight of the window just in case Jisung happened to look over. The last thing he wanted to do was get caught stealing a glance. To his luck it seemed like Jisung was far too into his own little world to notice if even the building caught on fire.

His curiosity had gotten the better of him, was all. Just being able to see the boy for a second put a smile on his face. Jisung was leaned against the countertop with his face tilted down towards his open notebook that lay in front of him. With the way he was tapping the bottom of his pen against the counter, Minho guessed he was listening to some track on the computer play out. He wished he could be able to hear what it was he was making, but knew better to even think about that.

Steadily backing up, he silently wished the younger good luck with his work and headed to his class before he would make himself late. If he had the chance later, he would try to come back.

  
  


His dance class ran a bit later than scheduled and even with that being done, he stayed around even longer to ensure that he could be fully caught up with the rest of the class. He considered himself lucky to be a faster learner so he didn’t have to use up so much time, but by the time it was all said and done, he was wiped out. Apart from being so worn out, he had a pit feeling in his heart when he thought about how Jisung had more than likely left his booth by now. At that thought, he no longer had any sort of urgency to get up.

With his instructor having since left him and the next class in that room not starting for at least another half hour, the tired boy let himself lay flatly against the hard floor. He hated the way his shirt felt so heavy against him. The thin layer of sweat that lingered on his skin had stuck it to him along with the hair on his forehead.

“Aish, it’s so hot,” he complained even though the dance studio rooms are specifically set to a cooler temperature so the students wouldn’t burn up after the first warm up.

Slicking his hair back out of his face with a sigh, he closed his eyes and worked on evening out his heart rate before he would allow himself to move. He had nearly let himself fall asleep until he was startled awake by something cold touching his forehead.

Opening his eyes and rolling to one side to get away from the sudden chill, he saw an equally surprised Jisung crouched down to his level. He had a water bottle in his hand. It could be the only culprit for the cooling sensation against Minho’s own hot skin.

Sitting up now, Minho continued to watch the other in surprise. Jisung was blinking steadily, seeming to be waiting for him to speak. It was only that Minho had just become immobile thanks to noticing how long and pretty his lashes were as they moved up and down. His heart rate was back to beating irregularly once again.

Still crouching, Jisung reached out and placed the cold water bottle in front of the dancer. “I thought maybe you would like this,” he explained, giving up on the other saying something first.

“Oh, yes, actually I do. Thanks,” Minho swiped the unopened bottle in front of him before twisting the cap off and downing half of it in one go. With the way it was ice cold, he thought Jisung must have just gotten it out of the drink machine down the hall. Immediately after realizing such, he felt his face warm up even more. Sealing the bottle closed, he pressed the cold surface against his cheek to will the bashful feeling away. He couldn’t let himself constantly get swooned over the littlest of gestures from Jisung. He wouldn’t be so easy.

Jisung pressed his hands against his thighs in effort to stand back up. He then reached one of his hands out in front of Minho’s face with a small smile.

“You’ve must have been dancing for a while if your face is so red.”

_ Yes, _ Minho thought to himself.  _ Yes I’ve been dancing for a long time and that’s why I look like a tomato right now. _ He appreciated the way that Jisung was seemingly so oblivious to the fact that it was just him that made him appear this way. He accepted his hand and let himself get pulled up with the other’s strength until he was standing on his own.

“I had to catch up completely on what I missed,” Minho explained. It was the truth, after all. “I’ve been done for a minute, but I was too tired to actually get up and go back to my dorm.”

Jisung’s eyebrows furrowed a bit at that. “You just got back into your classes after hurting yourself. Ease back into it instead of rushing everything or else you’re going to end up on the sidelines again.”

Minho wasn’t one for taking any part of his dancing classes slow, especially not when he had missed so many sessions. He took it all very seriously and wanted to do his absolute best, however he had a knack for overdoing it. Taking care of his health and putting it first wasn’t his priority, but hearing the concern and sternness in Jisung’s voice was enough to make him want to pause.

If it were anyone else, Minho would have brushed it off and told them that wasn’t what was going on. It wasn’t an uncommon argument between himself and Chan or Changbin. There was just something about hearing it from Jisung that made him unable to deny those claims.

“You’re right, I shouldn’t be doing that,” Minho nodded once before retrieving his bag from the floor. “I’m going to shower and rest for the remainder of the day then.”

The two of them walked out of the room together and headed up the stairs to exit the building. Minho wondered if he could fish around for what Jisung had been up to during the time he was practicing.

“You’ve been spending a lot of time here for someone that doesn’t have classes in this building,” he tried, hoping that would get him somewhere.

“I’m not stalking you, if that’s what you think,” Jisung chuckled. If only he knew that Minho wouldn’t have minded that one bit if that were to actually be the case. “I’m just working on some things in the studio down there. I’m actually meeting up with the hyungs soon.”

“Oh,” Minho remembered, suddenly stopping Jisung lightly by the bend of his arm. Reaching his hand into his pocket, he pulled out Changbin’s wallet and handed it out in the space in front of him. “By chance could you give this to Changbin? He left it in my room last night and I haven’t had a chance to give it to him myself. But you said you’re seeing him anyways.”

Jisung examined the wallet for a moment before accepting it. He didn’t miss the way that Minho tried his best to keep his hands still in effort to not deliberately brush his fingers against his own. Instead of showing that was known to him, he gave him a playful smirk instead.

“You’re turning into quite the thief, aren’t you?”

“What?” Minho waved his hands in front of him defensively. “No, no, I didn’t take it! I didn’t even mess with his money or anything. He really dropped it in my room when he was sleeping,” he promised. He really didn’t want Jisung to think that he had actually stolen it from Changbin. Ever since the notebook incident, he had been extremely paranoid about the way that Jisung viewed him.

Shaking his head, Jisung laughed and continued walking. “I’m just kidding. I just thought it would be funny. But don’t worry, I’ll give it back to him.”

Minho exhaled a sigh. He should have known he wasn’t being serious. Letting himself follow alongside him again, he thought about how much he enjoyed this. It was only them walking together back to the dorms, but it was more interaction than he could ask for.

They ended their short time together in the elevator. Minho had mentally kicked himself for hoping that it would get stuck with them in there. The desire to stay just a little bit longer with him wouldn’t shake off no matter how hard he tried. All he could do in the end was watch him make for the exit.

“If you’re not busy killing yourself with your dance work,” Jisung started, stopping just in the middle of the elevator doors so they wouldn’t close yet. “Would you want to go eat again together or something sometime?”

There was an obvious smile on Minho’s face at the vague offer. He nodded quickly despite the lack of decision. “Yeah, let's go for that.”

“Just let me know when,” Jisung said before finally stepping out and letting the elevator doors close behind him.

Minho couldn’t help but to count himself lucky with the way things were going for him so far. From the way Jisung came to him with the godly gift of cold water after his practice section to being offered more together time with him, it was safe to say that he was in heaven.

  
  


**Best Bin 🐽🐰**

( You know… maybe I should leave things in your room more often )

  
  


( What are you on about this time? )

( Really I think you should reconsider going to see a doctor about that head of yours 🤕 )

  
  


**Best Bin 🐽🐰**

( 😔 )

( I don’t know why I bother… )

( I’m saying, maybe that would let you see Jisung more often. If I left something with you, he’s the retriever )

  
  


( He’s not a dog, Changbin 😒 )

  
  


**Best Bin 🐽🐰**

( I thought it was a good idea 😢 )

  
  
  


( I REALLY appreciate you trying to help me Bin, but I don’t want him to think I’m scheming to get close to him )

( I’ve already ran him off more than once before )

  
  


—

  
  


**Hyung 😸**

( Awe, this is so soft of you, Minho ☺️ )

  
  


( Please tell me you weren’t reading Changbin’s messages )

  
  
  


**Hyung** 😸

( It’s not my fault that he showed them to me 🤷♂️ )

  
  


( Sometimes I really do hate him 😤 )

( Isn’t Jisung with you guys? Why are you even texting me now )

  
  


**Hyung** 😸

( He went to the bathroom, calm down. )

( Anyways, if I can say anything, I don’t think you need to worry about treading so carefully. )

  
  


( That’s easy for you to say, isn’t it? )

  
  


**Hyung 😸**

( I didn’t take you as the type that would lose your composure over someone like this )

  
  


( Trust me. I didn’t either 😔 )

  
  


**Hyung 😸**

( ㅋㅋ you’re cute 🥰 )

( Jisung’s back, gotta go ✌️ )

  
  


Minho tossed his phone away on his bed at the end of the conversation. It seemed like the teasing would be coming to him sooner than he expected. He played around with the thought of not even telling the two about his situation in the first place, but in the long run it was for the best. After being able to freely talk about his feelings; though it was a very reluctant decision, his heart and mind felt more at ease.

Despite feeling as such, Minho was constantly being bombarded by the feeling of butterflies in his stomach whenever Jisung came to his mind. And the darn boy had been paying his brain visits more often these days. Changbin’s offer of making it to where Jisung would have to see him more was tempting, but deep down he couldn’t accept it. He wouldn’t let himself accept it. All he could do was wait in hopes for Jisung to get closer to him by his own will. He was hoping that by the feeling he got, Jisung was already starting to weasel towards him.

  
  


___

* * *

  
  


Minho could have sworn he was still in his bed dreaming when he saw Jisung alone at the campus café one morning. He hadn’t even seen his face before he knew it was him. The poor boy was slumped over on the table in front of him with a half empty iced americano in the bend of one of his arms and his head pillowed on the other. If anything, it looked like he had fallen asleep while hugging it for some sort of support.

He looked so cute, Minho thought. So cute and peaceful. Leaning over, he could see a bit of drool coming from the corner of his mouth. He debated whether or not it would be embarrassing for him to wake him up right now, but after a moment to mull it over, he figured the younger might be late to class if he didn’t wake him up now.

Moving over to the side of him, Minho gently nudged Jisung’s arm in effort to pull him from his slumber. At the second nudge to his arm, Jisung spazzed awake as if he were having one of those falling dreams. All while he was jolting upright, he knocked over his cup, spilling some of it out onto the space on the table that he was leaned on.

Minho tried to save it with his cat-like reflexes, but wasn’t fast enough in getting it steady before it had already begun pooling around the table’s surface. Trying to work quickly, he moved to retrieve some napkins and press them down to soak up the coffee before it could start dripping off the table and into the boy’s lap.

All while this was happening, Jisung had hidden his face into his hands, muffling his whine. “My ice Americano… I didn’t even get to finish it…”

“You still have some left,” Minho pointed out, trying to look at the bright side.

“Hardly.” Jisung pouted his lower lip out as he took a hold of his now less than half empty drink with displeasure.

After fully drying off the tabletop, he pulled all of the now wet napkins into a pile and threw them away in a nearby trash can. With the way Jisung looked so heartbroken over spilling his precious drink, Minho's heart began to clench up.

Coming back over after a couple of minutes, Minho set down a fresh iced americano in front of the sad boy, earning him a twinkling gaze. Not trying to think too much of it, Minho sat in front of him with his own drink. He used it to train his own gaze onto it instead of Jisung. One might have thought a whole stack of money had been placed in front of him with the way his eyes sparkled so bright. There was no way that Minho was going to mention anything about the kind gesture.

“Hyung-“

“Why were you passed out?” Minho cut him off before he could get a sentence out. “You don’t ever come here.”

“I didn’t sleep last night,” Jisung admitted. “I was up all night doing things with the hyungs. And plus I’m here with Seungmin.”

“Seungmin?” Minho repeated in confusion. “Seungmin isn’t here.”

“What?” Seemingly unaware of that fact until now, Jisung started looking all around the café in search of his friend. When he came up short he frowned. “He was just here and told me I could take a nap and that he would wake me up in time for class.”

“He said that?” Minho asked, trying to piece it together. Seungmin wasn’t the type to lie about anything. Especially not about something like waking someone up in time for their class. After all, he’s the one that gets Hyunjin up every morning religiously. “Anyways, when does your class even start?”

Checking the time on his phone, Jisung answered with, “in about 15 minutes.”

He yawned, sucking down the little bit of coffee that was left in his first drink before picking up the second. He needed the energy to kick in any minute now.

Looking closer now than before, Minho noticed the slight bags that hung under the younger’s usually bright eyes. His face lacked the glow that always radiated it on any other normal day.

“Are you alright going to class like that? You shouldn’t go just to fall asleep in there.”

“I’ll be fine,” Jisung assured, waving his hand dismissively in front of him. “I just need to finish class and go back to working on my thing.”

“You mean, sleep,” Minho corrected.

Jisung shook his head, getting up at this point to head to class so he could make it on time. “Nope. I’ll lose my ideas again if I go to sleep before they’re all out.” He took his drink up in his hand from the table, holding it up. “Thanks for my new drink, hyung. I really appreciate it,” he smiled as he backed up and exited the café

  
  


( What was it with leaving Jisung like that? )

  
  


**SM 🐶**

( I knew you would come and see him before he ever had to leave )

( I just left to not get in your way 😇 )

  
  


( My way- )

( What way? )

  
  


**SM 🐶**

( You mind others seeing you doting, I know )

( So I removed myself from that situation where you can freely act as you please ☺️ )

  
  


( I’m not doting )

( I can tell you’ve been hanging around Changbin 😑 )

( He’s a bad influence, Seungmin )

  
  


**SM** 🐶

( Is that why he has you listed as Best friend? 🤔 )

  
  


( That’s embarrassing 🤢 )

  
  


**Minho**

@meowho

Everyone is coming after me lately 😓

  
  


Jisung trudged along sluggishly throughout all of his classes. He wanted to sleep but he knew that he couldn’t before he got his mind sorted out. There had been something on it for awhile now and it had only grown stronger by just this morning. He studied his notebook intently, scribbling things down all across its pages and making small notes for himself. To say the least, the pages of his notebook he had been on seemed messy and completely disorganized. For Jisung though, he knew where everything was at and how it was ordered.

He believed that if maybe he could just put his thoughts onto the paper, then maybe for a second he could stop to rest. But writing everything down was just the very beginning for him. He still needed guidance and he knew just the right person to go to.

“Channie hyung,” Jisung voiced into one end of his phone. He was sitting on top of one of the low walls outside his last class’ building. “I know we just stayed up really late last night to do some work, but I have a favor to ask you. It can wait…”

“No, no, it’s alright,” Chan assured with the utmost sincerity in his voice. “What do you need? I’m here to help.”

Jisung opened his mouth to speak, but hung it there trying to get his words in order. He just needed to get this done and he would be able to let himself rest. “I just want to know if something is stupid or not. I haven’t really touched on this kind of thing before, so I need a bit of guidance and opinion if I should do it at all.”

“Of course! Do you want to come over when I finish up here? Whatever it is, I really doubt it’s stupid. Especially if it’s coming from you.”

Chan’s premature support was enough to bring a small, hopeful smile to Jisung’s face. “Yeah, I’ll see you, then.”

  
  


**Chan**

@cbang

THIS is the thing that he thought might be stupid?

**Jisung** @hansome

Hey, could you quiet down a little?

**Felix** @fabulix

Wait, I want to know the maybe stupid thing 🥺

  
  


**Jisung**

@hansome

I’m not taking any chances. Everything is going on Chan’s stupidly over-protected laptop 🤐

**Changbin** @spearb

Rumor has it that not even the CIA can get into it

**Jisung** @hansome

@spearb That’s what I like to hear

**Felix** @fabulix

PleAse I want to know 😭

**Jeongin** @notyouroppa

Come on, hyung

  
  


**Jisung**

@hansome

I think it’s nap time 🥱

**Jisung** @hansome

All wandering hands will be cut off

  
  


**Felix**

@fabulix

😳 Stay away from Jisung’s and Chan hyung’s stuff? I read you crystal clear

  
  


**Changbin**

@spearb

Wait, why am I not informed??

**Chan** @cbang

Stop making out with your boyfriend and maybe we’ll show you 😘

  
  


**Changbin**

@spearb

Screw everyone being after Minho. It’s me they want

**Minho** @meowho

I’ll drink to that 🥂

  
  


After hours of work, Jisung laid passed out on Chan’s couch with his notebook hugged to his chest. Between his work he did the night prior and everything he did in Chan’s dorm, he had finally hit his limit with producing for the past 24 hours.

Chan ever so gently lifted the sleeping boy’s head to place a pillow underneath it so that he wouldn’t wake up with a cramped neck.

“I highly doubt that even an earthquake would wake him up right now,” Changbin quipped out with a small laugh. “You don’t have to pretend like he’s some sleeping tiger.”

It was true. Jisung was absolutely dead to the world with the way he was laying so limply at Chan’s touch. He continued to sleep soundly as Chan removed the notebook from his arms and replaced it with a small plushie for extra comfort. For a final touch of making sure Jisung would be plenty comfortable sleeping, Chan draped a blanket over him and tucked it around him.

“He’s really cute, Changbin, don’t you think?”

“When he’s asleep like that, he really is,” Changbin agreed, already stealing a picture of him sleeping just for the heck of it.

“No, not that. Well, okay that too,” Chan sighed. “I meant what he’s doing.”

He closed the lid to his laptop that sat in front of Jisung. It had everything he had been working on stored on it. It was the only way he would be sure that no one would find it. As far as his notebook went, Chan had a spot for that to keep it safe as well. For someone that left his door unlocked 24/7, he had a mad security game going on when it came to his music.

“I’m just honored he’s letting us in on this,” Changbin said as he continued to do a whole photo shoot with Jisung’s sleeping figure. “But it’s also no wonder he came to you for this. Out of all three of us, this is more in your department.”

“I hope that means you’re going to keep this a secret until he’s done then, right?”

Changbin put a hand on his chest and the other raised. “Of course.”

“Not even to Felix?”

Changbin’s confident expression faltered but nonetheless nodded. “N-not even to Felix.”

  
  


**Changbin**

@spearb

Not even to Felix 😢

**Felix** @fabulix

What 🥺

**Jeongin** @notyouroppa

@fabulix don’t feel bad, not even do I know 🤗

  
  


**Felix**

@fabulix

Innie doesn’t even know??? That’s new coming from Jisung 👀

**Jeongin** @notyouroppa

I know, I feel so betrayed 😭

  
  


* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed~ See you next Monday ٩( 'ω' )و
> 
> *another thing I forgot (^_^;) : for next week’s update would you guys rather it be shorter and end on another slight cliffhanger or would you rather it be a longer chapter and have the reveal?


	30. Chapter 30

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wwwwwwelcome back after that slight cliffhanger. I hope you didn’t hang there for too long. I’ve been really excited about this chapter and I hope you all enjoy it ❤︎

* * *

**Chan**

@cbang

I think he went into a coma 😟

**Felix** @fabulix

Jisung? He’ll get up eventually

**Chan** @cbang

@fabulix It’s been 10 hours

**Felix** @fabulix

Only two more hours left to go

  
  


**Changbin**

@spearb

This is kind of fun 😈 He doesn’t wake up to anything 

**Changbin** @spearb

Quick. What should I draw on him

**Felix** @fabulix

Nothing 🤗

  
  


**Changbin**

@spearb

Hyung is mean 😢

**Minho** @meowho

You probably deserved it

  
  


**Changbin**

@spearb

… HyungS are mean 😭

  
  


A full twelve hours had passed before Jisung slowly stirred awake, stretching his legs out and kicking the blanket off of him. By all of his heavy sleeping, his hair was a complete mess around his head. Half of it stuck up in a mad cowlick. Slowly he pushed himself up into a sitting position and rubbed at his eyes in effort to shake off the sleepiness.

“Good morning, Sleeping Beauty,” Chan mused once he noticed Jisung was awake; though it was nowhere close to morning time. He had stayed quietly in his room for the most part just out of respect for his sleeping friend even though Changbin assured there was nothing that could possibly wake him up.

Taking a moment to process everything, Jisung looked down to his sleeping setup and then to the coffee table where Chan’s laptop once was. Only when he noticed that it was missing did he also find his notebook to be missing too. Suddenly he was much more awake and responsive.

“Where’d my stuff go?”

He didn’t remember falling asleep or even how much he had gotten accomplished in the end. His dreams had been filled with nothing but his project, leaving him to be unsure of what had been reality.

“Don’t worry,” Chan assured, calming down Jisung’s anxiety. “I put everything away in a safe spot. Not even Changbin can get into it.”

Sighing in relief at those words, Jisung put a hand on his chest. His quickened heart had instantly began settling back down. He wouldn’t know how to live if his project got leaked before he was done.

“Where is Changbin hyung anyways?”

“I kicked him out.”

“You- what? What did he do?” Jisung looked at him, blinking out of surprise. It was unheard of for Chan to kick anyone out of his room. It was the place that warmly welcomed everyone.

Without an explanation, Chan came over with his phone and turned on his front facing camera before handing it to Jisung.

Jisung didn’t even get to hold it yet before he could already see markings on his face put there by some sort of black marker. Without meaning to, he snatched the phone from Chan’s hands and held it at arm's length to be able to see his whole face.

Changbin had doodled a pair of whiskers on his cheeks and a little button on his nose. The ink was a bit faded which led Jisung to believe that someone tried to wipe it off but failed at finishing the job. Along with the markings on his face, Jisung was shocked by how horribly disheveled his hair was.

  
  


**Jisung**

@hansome

HOW HARD WAS I SLEEPING

**Changbin** @spearb

Like a rock that had been shot with a tranquilizer

  
  


**Jisung**

@hansome

[ image attached ]

Okay but I still look hot even if I do have stuff drawn on my face

**Jeongin** @notyouroppa

Don’t take this the wrong way but- 🥵

**Felix** @fabulix

My best friend is hot with messy hair and whiskers WOW 😵

  
  


**Changbin**

@spearb

Minho just chucked his phone at me??? Sir what did I do???

**Chan** @cbang

Is this a serious question or…

**Changbin** @spearb

@cbang PLEASE he could be a star pitcher, it hurt 😭

  
  


**Seungmin**

@songmin

@meowho Come pitch for me?

**Minho** @meowho

Sure 🤷

  
  
  


( Channie hyung said you can come back if you buy us food 😇 )

  
  


**[not] dark rapper hyung**

( 😒 )

  
  


( is that a no? )

  
  


**[not] dark rapper hyung**

( 😞 )

( it beats getting abused by Minho )

( oh- he’s leaving to go play baseball with Seungmin anyways )

( 😩 I’m coming )

  
  


( 😋 )

  
  


Changbin came back into Chan’s room once invited back with a heavy sigh. It was sad to him that the only way back in was by getting them food. Not that he was complaining or anything. He watched as Jisung came out of the bathroom looking much more refreshed than before. Changbin was disappointed with the way his works of art had been removed from his face.

“Awe, Jisung, why did you wash your face?” He pouted his lower lip. “You looked so cute before.”

“I looked cute before you drew on me too, hyung,” Jisung said as he framed his face with his hands then winked. “I always look good.”

Changbin couldn’t help but to look away and scoff from the oozing self confidence that Jisung was radiating. With the way he finally got himself washed up and dressed after sleeping half of an entire day, he really did look good. The amount of sleep he received did wonders to his face, but overall the boy was just overly attractive. He really didn’t blame Minho for the way he reacted in seeing the photo he posted earlier, though getting hit with a phone still was going to leave a mark on him later.

“That you do,” Chan agreed, emerging from his room to sling an arm around Jisung and Changbin’s shoulders. “But I think that we all look better when we eat, what do you think?”

“I think Jisung looks the cutest then,” Changbin gushed, reaching out to pinch Jisung’s cheeks only to have him bite his finger lightly. “Ow, okay, I take that back,” he frowned, rubbing his finger.

  
  


**Changbin**

@spearb

[ image attached ]

He deserved a break so we took him out

**Jisung** @hansome

But I still have a lot of work to do 😣

**Chan** @cbang

@hansome You need a break. You hardly have anything left to do

  
  


“Jisung,” Chan started by putting his hands on Jisung’s shoulders in order to get his full attention. “We all know you’ve been stressing out and working yourself to death over this, but you can relax right now.”

There was a glimmer in his eyes that he used to get inside Jisung’s brain with the help of the calmness in his voice. He couldn’t let Jisung stay fidgeting the way he was with this.

“You have everything prepared so all you have to do is record and put it together. It’s nothing you haven’t done a hundred times already with us or even by yourself.”

“Hyung’s right,” Changbin chimed in. “You’re thinking too much about something that’s like second nature to you. Besides, how are you going to do it well if you’re not feeling loose?”

“Loose…?” Jisung echoed, eyes blinking steadily.

Chan and Changbin exchanged a smirk and a nod before escorting their friend to a karaoke bar. There they knew Jisung would be able to reset his mind and leave feeling more comfortably while also being able to order a lot of food.

“I didn’t realize how hungry I was,” Jisung exasperated as he shoved more food into his mouth while the two older boys played around with the set list. “I can’t remember the last thing I ate besides coffee.”

Chan gave him a worried look. “Coffee isn’t food, Jisung. Seriously, when was the last time you ate anything? Do you want more?”

“Don’t ask him that,” Changbin nudged him with an elbow. “Just order more food and make him eat it all.”

If Jisung were being honest with himself, he hadn’t felt hungry since working on his project. The entire thing had captivated his mind, forcing him to focus on only that as if it were the only necessity to living. He had been so far into the zone that the only way out of it was by sheer lack of any sleep whatsoever. Even his favorite coffee couldn’t save him from crashing so hard.

Now that he was in the final stretch of it, his humanly senses such as hunger cane back to him in full force. He was three plates in before his stomach allowed him to set the food aside in favor of joining his hyungs in singing off-key karaoke.

  
  


**Best Bin** 🐽🐰

[ video attached ]

( Don’t say I don’t love you )

( Or don’t say anything at all, that works too… )

( Minho? )

  
  


( Hyung’s pretending like he didn’t see anything to save his composure —SM🐶 )

  
  


**Best Bin 🐽🐰**

( Oh, is that why you have his phone )

  
  


( You broke him, hyung. He won’t admit it though —SM🐶 )

  
  


**Best Bin 🐽🐰**

( Good 🤗 )

[ image attached ]

  
  


( I think you better watch your back. He’s giving me a look —SM🐶 )

  
  


“That Seo Changbin,” Minho muttered with his voice being overpowered by a loud metal clang of Seungmin’s bat against the ball he served himself.

After seeing the unexpected gifts given to him by his friend, the flustered boy hurriedly shoved his phone into Seungmin’s hands and taken up the heavy bat to aggressively whack baseballs across the field. For someone that didn’t play the sport, he sure could hit it to the far side of the fencing that entrapped them.

“He thinks that just because he’s my friend, he can freely act as he wants to.” Minho’s mouth was in a thin line as he tried his best to control himself. He couldn’t stand the way that measley images could send his heart into such a frenzy. He reached again into the bucket to grab another baseball, but frowned when he found it to be empty.

“Did you forget?” Seungmin asked, standing off to the side with his arms crossed and a smug look on his face. “You already sent them all across the field. That was the last one.”

With a huff, Minho dropped the tip of the bat into the dirt and let himself fall down with it. “Darn it.”

“You’re really good at this, hyung,” Seungmin complimented with his signature smile.

“Good at what?” Minho dared to ask. He could already imagine the younger saying something about how his heart was sitting straight upon his sleeve right now.

What he hadn’t imagined was Seungmin resting a hand on top of the fluff of Minho’s dark brown hair and answering with, “baseball.”

Minho’s head fell with an amused scoff. At this point he knew Seungmin was just poking fun at him too. It was all too easy for anyone and everyone to join the fun. Ever since Jisung had let him in with getting closer, his control over his own mind had faltered. It was all because he wanted something so bad but knew he had no say in the matter. Anticipation was his worst enemy at the moment.

Seungmin pat the older’s head for a moment before taking his hand back in favor of taking up the empty bucket. “If you want to play some more, we have to get all of the balls back,” he informed, already heading across the field to retrieve all of their baseballs back into the bucket.

“I’m coming…” Minho sighed out before standing up, dusting himself off, and strolling along after him.

  
  


The rest of the day passed by silently from 3RACHA. Not a single member sent even a text out to an external person that wasn’t with them once they made it back to Chan’s dorm. It was Jisung that had compromised doing whatever they wanted to outside, but going under complete lockdown until he was finished. The older two complied without hesitation. They knew how much complete secrecy meant to him at that time and just how paranoid he was about it in the first place.

  
  


**Felix**

@fabilix

What is this silence 😰

**Minho** @meowho

Even Changbin hasn’t bothered me anymore tonight 😸

**Jeongin** @notyouroppa

Jisung is usually the loud one 🤔

**Felix** @fabulix

@notyouroppa Maybe they all drank themselves to sleep?

  
  


**Felix**

@fabulix

I miss my friend, where is he 😖

**Hyunjin** @hwangjin

I’ve literally been with you all day -.-

**Felix** @fabulix

@hwangjin And I love you for that 🥺💕

  
  


**Minho**

@meowho

If Changbin doesn’t reply in the next two hours I’m just assuming he’s buying me food

  
  


**Minho**

@meowho

Now this is strange…

  
  


**Jeongin**

@notyouroppa

What if this is WOW pt.2? 👀

**Felix** @fabulix

Wow….. he’s hot 🥵

  
  


**Felix**

@fabulix

Wait @spearb better not be calling some other dude hot 😡

**Hyunjin** @hwangjin

I HIGHLY doubt that’s it

  
  


“They really think we’re making WOW part 2,” Chan chuckled from where he was leaning back in his computer chair with his feet kicked up on the coffee table. Just because Jisung put them on lockdown with posting and texting didn’t mean they couldn’t still see what everyone else was doing online.

Jisung shot his head up. Suddenly the thought of his project being just that made him extremely nervous. His fingers rubbed anxiously against the ridges in the keys of Chan’s laptop.

“Do you think that’s what this is? Was this a bad idea after all?”

“What? No, Jisung, of course it’s not,” Chan promised as he put his phone down in his lap. “Changbin was the one that made that. This one is all you.”

Changbin, who had been completely minding his own business on the other end of the couch the entire time, crossed his arms over his chest in slight hurt. “That song wasn’t bad. I just had a little too much to drink that night and made something outside of my style.”

With narrowed eyes, the two boys seemed to be silently communicating with only the help of slight head movements to decipher what it was they were talking about. Jisung stretched out to place the laptop on the coffee table in front of him before balling up to be as small as possible and pulling the blanket over top of him in an effort to make himself disappear.

He felt too much pressure at the moment. He needed to get to a quiet place before he would become too overwhelmed. Something that was usually so easy to him was now looming over him heavily.

“This isn’t from 3RACHA, this is from _me_.”

“Awe, Jisung,” Chan cooed as he left his chair in favor of sitting beside the small boy and pulling him into a comforting hug. With no signs of Jisung resisting, the older softly squeezed him closer to him so that he could rest his chin on Jisung’s covered head. “Even if we had no part in making it, we still support you all of the way. If it means anything to you, we both think what you came up with is amazing. And not to mention, as both of us being friends with the guy, I know he’s not going to think it’s stupid.”

Changbin crawled over towards them to be able to join the group hug on Jisung. He rubbed a hand against Jisung’s back and said, “you already have everything in your drafts so all you have to do is hit post. It’s all good, trust us.”

The two elders really couldn’t figure out why Jisung was being so reluctant after having already finished everything. They believed that his song was amazing and was a strong contender for the best thing he’s ever made. Jisung just couldn’t fight the idea that it was actually the dumbest thing he’s ever made.

“Listen,” Chan voiced with his cheek against Jisung’s head. “It’s already super late so everyone is probably asleep or getting there. How about you just take a nap and when you wake up you’ll post it? ...Jisung?”

When Jisung didn’t respond, the eldest gently lifted one side of the blanket with a hand to find that he had already fallen asleep while leaned into Chan’s arms. With a short chuckle, Chan dropped the blanket back down over the sleeping boy’s body. Gently he repositioned themselves until Chan was leaned back against the arm of the couch and the back cushion so that the both of them could sleep more comfortably. He took a guess that Jisung would far from mind being held while he slept.

“It’s nap time, Changbin,” Chan instructed as he stretched his leg out to softly close the screen of his laptop so that it would lock back. “Don’t you dare draw on him again.

“I’m not, I’m not. I already know you’ll beat me if I do.”

He felt like that was a big reason as to why Chan decided on holding Jisung. At least that way he could make sure the poor boy wouldn’t be bothered again. Nonetheless Changbin still got himself comfortable on the other end of the couch and laid his legs on top of Chan’s.

  
  


**Changbin**

@spearb

He’s so cute 😚

**Felix** @fabulix

Who? 🥺

**Changbin** @spearb

@fabulix the nap time instructor 

  
  


**Felix**

@fabulix

Whomstve?

**Jeongin** @notyouroppa

Probably our Sloth 🦥

  
  


**Jeongin**

@notyouroppa

Wait- Changbin hyung posted 👀

**Jeongin** @notoyouroppa

@spearb just tell us if it’s WOW pt.2 or not

**Changbin** @spearb

Go to sleep, little one 😚

  
  


**Jeongin**

@notyouroppa

HE’S calling me little? 🧐

**Felix** @fabulix

😡

  
  


**Jeongin**

@notyouroppa

Okay. That tweet never got sent. That was all an illusion.

**Felix** @fabulix

🙃

  
  


**Jeongin**

@notyouroppa

Felix is kinda scary 😰

  
  


Said nap time instructor woke up after some hours had passed. There was a strange sense of determination in him as he moved out of Chan’s hold and quickly to the laptop that sat closed in front of him. Only upon opening it did he remember that it was locked. Luckily for him he had woken up the owner in the process of grabbing it.

“Here,” Chan offered his hands out to him. He still wasn’t fully awake with the way his eyes were half lidded. Still he accepted the laptop into his hands just long enough to enter the password and gave it back. He watched lazily as Jisung pulled up his own account pages in both YouTube and Twitter to make the audio clip video public and post the corresponding tweet without a moment to spare another thought about it.

  
  


**Jisung**

@hansome

To: @meowho

https://youtu.be/6Hynx73Vvjw

  
  


**Hyunjin**

@hwangjin

Wait… it’s not 3RACHA 😮

  
  


**Jeongin**

@notyouroppa

I just need a minute because 😭💕

**Felix** @fabulix

I need longer than a minute 🥺😭💕💕 SUNGIE IS SO CUTE

  
  


**Drama Llama 🦙**

( HYUNG )

( WAKE )

( UP )

( Or are you already awake? )

( Have you died? )

( You haven't said anything yet 😕 )

  
  


It wasn’t until Hyunjin started calling Minho’s phone that Minho finally picked his head up from his slumber. The constant pinging from all of his alerts was starting to really tick him off. He figured it must have been Changbin going back to annoying him. With it being so early in the morning, he wasn’t about to find out.

“What the hell do they want from me?” He growled lowly as he slammed his hand around on his nightstand in an attempt to find his phone and make it stop ringing. Without looking at who it was calling him, he brought his thumb to the lock button and clicked it to silence it. “There,” he huffed, bringing his hand back to him and under his pillow as he tried to go back to sleep.

His plans to go back to sleep were cut short yet again when his phone resumed ringing within the next minute. This time Minho picked his phone up and blindly swiped the accept button before bringing it to his ear.

“Changbin, I swear to god-“

“Good morning to you too. Hyung, did you not get enough sleep?”

The sound of Hyunjin’s voice on the other end instantly made the grouch become more awake and even more so apologetic.

“Oh, Hyunjin. Sorry, I thought it was Changbin,” he apologized as he pushed himself up into a sitting position.

“Did you just wake up?” Hyunjin asked but instantly corrected himself. “You must have if you sound like this. You should look at your mentions.”

“My mentions?” Minho repeated in confusion. Now he pulled his phone down so that he could unlock it. The initial spam of Hyunjin’s messages were already concerning him, but the lack of worry in his voice let him know that nothing was necessarily wrong. He tapped on the little white bird trapped in a blue box on his screen and then to the lit up bell at the bottom. The sight of Jisung mentioning him with a link made his body freeze up.

“Bye, Hyunjin, I'll talk to you later,” Minho rushed out, flailing to disconnect the call as fast as possible. He missed whatever it was that Hyunjin was saying at the end of it, but he didn’t care. All that mattered right now was what the link led to.

  
  


**Hyunjin**

@hwangjin

T-4 minutes starting….. now 😎

**Seungmin** @songmin

This should be good

  
  


It was the third time now that the song had played out of the speakers of Minho’s phone. It didn’t seem like he was going to wrap his head around this even three more times. The sound of Jisung’s calm and lyrical voice had rendered him completely immobile. _I’m dreaming… this is a dream. It’s not real. This isn’t real_.

He had to pinch the soft skin below his wrist to convince himself that this was in fact reality. That Jisung; HAN Jisung, has actually made a confession song for him and only him.

His body twitched in a sudden urge to move. There was no way he could sit there anymore. His emotions were kicking up a storm inside of him and he needed to get out. He needed to see Jisung.

The only problem was, he didn’t know where he was. Nor did he have his number to call him. Fumbling, he removed himself from his bed and forsook his phone there as he moved out of his room and towards his front door. If he didn’t know where Jisung was, Chan or Changbin definitely would. In a frenzy, he unlocked his door and threw it open, body halting to an abrupt dead stop at the sight in front of him.

Jisung was standing in front of it, head down and hands clasped together as he rubbed at his fingers. Much unlike Minho, his body was fidgeting, trembling ever so slightly as he waited there. He had been so scared coming here that he couldn’t even bring himself to knock on the door. There was no turning back, however, since he already put everything out into the open for all to see. His mind had set him up to where he couldn’t back out anymore.

Hearing the door open, Jisung raised his head slowly until he met the level of Minho’s wild gaze. The visitor was struggling to keep a steady smile on his face. God was he having a complete emergency inside of him.

“H-hey… I just… I just came to, uh… you see-“ Mentally Jisung was sending up flares in hopes of something to come save him. He squeezed his hands tighter together, trying his absolute best to will the right words to come out of his mouth. Despite having come here with his own two feet, he was lacking the confidence he needed. His eyes fell down towards his hands again. _Damn it, Jisung. You’re such a coward._

The sight of Jisung falling apart and combusting in front of him led Minho to pull him inside of his dorm and shut the door behind him. He wrapped one arm around Jisung’s waist and his other hand holding the back of his head gently. Jisung’s body still shook in Minho’s hold but still he hugged him back tightly. Minho’s frame was the only support that he needed at the moment and he held onto him for dear life.

“It’s okay, Jisung,” Minho whispered against his ear. He didn’t need for him to explain anything. The only thing he wanted was for Jisung to completely calm down. It was his first priority. His rapid heartbeat broke through both of their shirts easily and was beating straight against Minho’s chest. “I can’t believe you did something like that.”

Jisung was hiding his face in the crook of Minho’s neck. It was burning and he was sure that Minho could very well feel it too.

“My mind made itself up,” Jisung voiced. It was hardly loud enough for the other to hear. “Despite what I said before, my feelings took over.” He sighed. That was so cheesy, he thought. Gradually he loosened his grip around Minho’s body. “Do you really not think it’s stupid?”

Minho pulled away from him at that and held him at arms length with his hands on Jisung’s shoulders. “Did _you_ think it was stupid? Was that what Chan hyung was on about?” He asked and had Jisung’s wandering gaze answer for him. “Jisung. Jisung, listen to me,” he pleaded, tilting his head so that he would have to face him. “I thought the entire thing was beautiful. And I’m not just saying that because I think you’re the best looking thing that’s ever walked this earth.”

He couldn’t believe that Jisung had been so paranoid about the song. He couldn’t believe that Jisung had even _made_ a song for him. But he did. And Minho thought it was the best thing that he had ever listened to. He thought that with every fiber of his being.

Minho pulled him back into a hug with both of his arms wrapped around Jisung’s shoulders. “God, Jisung. You just keep adding things to the list.

“What list?”

“The list of reasons why I keep finding myself fall for you even harder,” Minho answered softly. Everything inside of him had long since turned to mush, but he felt unstoppable. Jisung’s song and presence in his room had sent him into a complete state of euphoria.

Jisung exhaled a warm breath against Minho’s neck, smiling more easily now. “I’m relieved. I worked really hard on it.”

“I know you have,” Minho agreed. “I know you’ve been killing yourself over it. And now I know it’s the reason you suddenly became so quiet. So now will you let yourself rest? For real this time?”

“Only if I can do it here for a while and get to really know who Lee Minho is,” Jisung negotiated.

Laughing, Minho agreed to his terms. “Sure, we can play 20 questions or whatever you want.”

  
  


**Hyunjin**

@hwangjin

It’s been a lot longer than 4 minutes 😕

**Chan** @cbang

You didn’t hear?

**Hyunjin** @hwangjin

@cbang hear what?

**Chan** @cbang

Jisung went to Minho’s room

  
  


**Felix**

@fabulix

WHAT 🙀

  
  


**Jeongin**

@notyouroppa

Jisung? Went where?

**Changbin** @spearb

Minho’s. Room. 🚪

  
  


**Seungmin**

@songmin

I’ll be honest. Even I didn’t know that 💁♂️

**Hyunjin** @hwangjin

We were supposed to be the brains behind this operation and look at us now 🤡

**Seungmin** @songmin

@hwangjin But you always look like that, hyung

  
  


**Hyunjin**

@hwangjin

🤕

  
  


**Felix**

@fabulix

Everyone SHHHH Jisung is back 👀

  
  


**Minho**

@meowho

Damn you guys are loud 😓

**Hyunjin** @hwangjin

HYUNG. CALL 😤

  
  


Unlocking the door, Jisung waltzed through the threshold casually as if there hadn’t been a bomb dropped this morning. When he closed the door behind him and looked up, he was met by the intent gazes of his two best friends.

Jeongin and Felix had set up camp in chairs in front of the door for hours now. They both sat with their arms and legs crossed, waiting patiently for their friend to come back to them. Jeongin had dropped everything like it was hot to come and hear what Jisung had to say.

Jisung paused with his back to the door like a deer in headlights. He had expected a confrontation, but not one like this. Gradually he turned and tried for the door handle.

“I’m sorry, it seems like I’ve come into the wrong room...”

Like two feisty cats, Jeongin and Felix lept straight onto Jisung until he was knocked down and pinned to the floor.

“Oh no, you’re not getting away from me after I’ve come all this way,” Jeongin pressed as he grabbed one side of Jisung while Felix got the other. Neither of them trusted just one of them to handle their friend without him slipping away. “You have a lot of talking to do.”

“Especially since you’ve been in hyung’s room for a couple hours,” Felix added.

The two youngests picked up the struggling Jisung and escorted him onto the couch where Jeongin proceeded to sit on him so he wouldn’t move.

Felix planted himself cross legged on the coffee table that sat in front of the couch. “First off, Sungie, I want to say that I’m really happy for you and I thought that Close was top notch.”

“Second of all,” Jeongin added, hugging Jisung’s neck loosely. “What happened with you? It wasn’t all that long ago that you said you weren’t doing anything. What was it? A month?”

“Things change,” Jisung sighed. He had no plans for trying to get Jeongin off of him so he comfortably hugged him at the waist. There was no point in trying to run. They deserved to know the details after all. “It was all because of something I made before everything went down.”

“What?” Felix tilted his head. “What did you make?”

“Before I even lost my notebook, I had started making a track in the production booth that I hang out in. It was something that had all of my feelings for Minho in it,” Jisung explained, leaning his head back as he recalled the time he spent on it. “Since I stopped going there, I had forgotten all about it. But when I finally went back, I found it and played it for the first time in forever. Everything just hit me all at once like some sort of freight train. The more I played it, the more I remembered how I felt and those feelings just came back to me. And… that’s how I got the idea for the song I posted earlier…”

There was a soft smile sitting on Jisung’s face that spread to the two of his friends. It had been a minute since they'd seen him like this. In all actuality, it was a refreshingly new and different side to his usual goofy or even slightly aggressive side that they were so used to seeing.

“So that’s why you were with Chan and Changbin for so long,” Felix realized, tapping a finger to his lips.

Jisung nodded. “I was paranoid that someone would figure out what I was doing so I went to Chan hyung so he could keep everything safe and away from people.”

Felix leaned closer with a devious grin on his face. “So then, Sungie. What were you doing in hyung’s room all this time?” He wriggled his eyebrows for effect.

Jisung gave him a soft kick against his foot to shoo the impure thoughts that Felix was having away. “We just talked,” he claimed with a straight face. It didn’t seem like Felix was even close to buying that so he continued on. “Please, I _just_ confessed to the guy. Do you really take me as someone that would do something right then and there? I was shaking in my boots after all. We just got to know each other better.”

A light pink tint spread across Jisung’s face as he looked away from them. Really he couldn’t believe his friends to think he had that sort of nerve. Sure, he was cocky at times. But when it came down to it, he was a shy turtle that wanted to hide in its shell. He needed time to be able to go out and act as he pleased.

“Ohhhhh, Jisungie, you’re really cute like this,” Jeongin cooed, pinching his chubby cheeks. “This was totally worth the commute. Hey, you should definitely buy me some food now. You know, to celebrate and to talk more about your new boyfriend,” he shone his best innocent smile at him. If he was good at anything, it was knowing how to get his way in life; especially if it was coming from his older friend.

“I’m starting to think the only reason you come see me is for free food,” Jisung huffed, feigning hurt. Still though, he scooted to the edge of the couch with Jeongin still on his lap and stood up, carrying him towards the door. “Let’s go, Lix. _Someone_ has to feed this big baby.”

Felix hopped up from his spot on the coffee table and skipped over until he was beside Jisung. “One day you’ll be able to withstand Innie’s overbearingly cute charms.”

  
  


**Jeongin**

@notyouroppa

No one can resist my charms 😘

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> See you next Monday for another exciting chapter~
> 
> ***As of September 8th 2020:  
> I don’t feel comfortable including Woojin’s name in my story anymore after what happened today, so all later chapters will continue without any mention of him. Thanks for understanding ❤︎


	31. Chapter 31

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome back~
> 
> ‼️ I added this to last week’s notes, but I wanted to include this here as well: following the drama of Woojin, I will no longer be mentioning him in the story as I do not feel comfortable with it. The future chapters that I have already written have been modified to make sure that he is not brought up again. I wish I hadn’t gotten so far into this beforehand, but at least he was never deeply rooted into this story’s plot in the first place. Anyways, thanks for understanding this decision.
> 
> I was really excited for this chapter even though it’s a bit on the shorter side. The Minsung agenda is definitely being dived into further and it does not stop here ☆〜（ゝ。∂）
> 
> Please laugh at my joke in the story ㅠㅠ I worked so hard on it and I just hope it was amusing to you guys too.

* * *

  
It had been two weeks since Jisung pulled himself together and made the decision to finalize things with Minho. They began spending more time than ever with each other despite their conflicting schedules. Both parties were in agreement that it would always be better to do so when their friends weren’t around. The less their friends knew, the less they could get teased about. And with the both of them being long standing teasers of Changlix, they wouldn’t be spared any mercy.

Luckily for them, the time of finals was looming over them and giving them a good excuse to be absent from their friends. This also meant that said friends would also be too busy preparing for their own finals to even bother staking out what Minho or Jisung could possibly be doing. The only one who had any sort of free time to play games was Seungmin.

“You know,” Minho thought as he set down his half empty drink down on the table beside his book. The chair creaked slightly under his weight as he leaned back further into it. “Out of all people, I would have thought you would be the one most indulged in studying for finals.”

Looking at him now, Minho saw that his friend seemed to be the furthest from concerned about anything related to finals. The way he was so casually relaxed at the café table with nothing but his own morning drink was a sure sign that the subject was not on his mind nor was he worried about it in the slightest. His lips turned upwards around his straw in the smallest gesture of a cunning smile. A giggle escaped him as he thought about Minho’s idea of him.

“That’s funny.” Seungmin softly put his own drink down before laying one arm down on the table and propping his other elbow up so he could rest his head against it. “Minho hyung, did you know?”

Minho blinked a few times, obviously unaware of what he meant. “Know what?”

“The reason why I’m not doing anything, it’s because I’ve stayed on top of everything all semester. Now I get to sit back and make bank off other people with the help of my notes and knowledge,” he smiled cunningly then added, “and doing that refreshes my mind too.”

Minho’s mouth hung slightly open at that. To say he was impressed at his scheme would be an understatement. He hadn’t taken Seungmin to be the type to be so academically gifted at the same time of using that gift for an entirely different profit. Maybe it was just the overall angelic profile that fogged up any chance of him being so slick.

“You really are a sly fox, aren’t you?” Minho asked, looking at him with a slight side eye.

“There’s a reason for why I got so much scholarship money, you know?”

At this point he was just bragging and felt the need to switch lanes. Even if he were proud of his methods, bragging about them wasn’t exactly in his agenda.

“Anyways, hyung,” Seungmin started to change the subject. “It seems like no one has had the time of day recently to be poking fun at you two.”

Minho deadpanned. “What, don’t tell me you’re going to start because you have all of the time in the world.”

“That’s not true,” Seungmin denied. “I’m just a little bored and was going to offer  _ you _ something to get at Jisung.” He shrugged and lazily pushed himself off from the table as if he were going to leave.

Suddenly a look of interest came over the one still deep in his seat. “Wait, what is it?” If it was anything that could get an interesting reaction out of Jisung, he was willing to listen.

  
  


**Seungmin**

@songmin

I love finals season 😌

**Hyunjin** @hwangjin

Some of us aren’t so privileged to say that 😩

  
  


Just before Jisung would make his way into class, Minho snuck in and set a small present with a note attached where Jisung sat at. He just hoped he hadn’t gotten Seungmin’s directions wrong somehow. There wasn’t much time for him to think about it without him getting caught in the act. He hurried out before anyone would see him.

Jisung arrived just a minute later, stopping short inside when he saw his favorite drink sitting at his seat. Cautiously he approached it, sitting his bag down in the chair as he picked up the sticky note with his name written on it.

“Whose handwriting is this…” he wondered aloud as he flipped it over to see more written in the back.

  
  


_ I like you a laHe _

  
  


Squinting his eyes, he tried to make out what it said. “ _ I like you a… lahe?  _ What?  _ Lahe _ …”

Not understanding, he took the note outside with his phone and called Felix.

“Lix. What is a  _ lahe _ ?”

“ _ A what? A lei? _ The Hawaiian flower necklace?” Felix didn’t seem to have a clue with what his friend was going on about so early in the morning.

“No, not that. L-a-h-e.”

He could hear the way Felix was giving him a completely dumbfounded face through the silence on the other end. Jisung began to wonder just what in the world it actually was until he finally realized he had misread it. He leaned against the wall in laughter, accidentally disconnecting the call in the process.

  
  


**Felix**

@fabulix

I think Jisung is having a stroke? Why is he asking me what a lahe is?

**Seungmin** @songmin

A what.

**Felix** @fabulix

@songmin I don’t know either???

  
  


( Hyung. )

( What did you write on that note )

  
  


**Minho hyung**

( Exactly what you said )

  
  


( … )

( You misspelled latte )

  
  


**Minho hyung**

( L- )

( You mean to tell me that didn’t say LaHe? )

  
  


( 💀 )

  
  


**Minho hyung**

( 😓 )

  
  
  


**Hyunjin**

@hwangjin

Help I think Seungmin is possessed 😨

**Hyunjin** @hwangjin

I’m used to him being random but why is he suddenly crying laughing??

**Felix** @fabulix

Is he having a stroke too???

  
  


Minho couldn’t believe that he had misspelled something so simple. He should have known it wasn’t a capital H but actually two lowercase t’s just written closely together.

“Maybe I can just play it off that it wasnt me…” He thought aloud as he got his things together after his last class. The idea wasn’t too bad. It wasn’t like he hadn’t taken credit before for things of that nature or anything. “I just have to act casual is all. I can do that.”

He had been so lost into his own little world that he hadn’t heard his name being called after he exited his class. With a hand reaching out and grabbing a hold of his bicep, he was pulled to a stop and back into reality. Turning, he saw Jisung smiling up at him.

It would have been true to say that Minho hadn’t expected him to be here. As far as he thought, Jisung was supposed to be doing school work right now. The endearing expression on his face made Minho glad that he was here instead.

“What happened to your work?”

Jisung flashed him an innocent smile, now letting go of his arm. “How can I work when I’m hungry? It’s like every part I get to, I’m interrupted because my stomach keeps growling.”

Minho rolled his eyes with a light scoff. “So that’s what this is… You just came to see me for some free food. Isn’t this what you tell your friend Jeongin?” He asked as he crossed his arms at him.

Blinking, Jisung stood up a little straighter. “Actually, I was offering  _ you _ some free food. But you’re right,” he grinned cheekily. “I do like seeing you for free food better.”

Minho was already waking away by now. In the end he had set himself up and gotten played. But he didn’t care, he was going to eat regardless of whose treat it was.

They decided on getting something to take out and eating back at Minho’s dorm just for the sake of having quietness and no chance for anyone bothering them. Though it would be almost a certainty that all of their friends would be busy with something else at this time, it was more preferred to not risk it.

“Oh, I almost forgot,” Jisung piped up. Suddenly finishing into his pocket, he pulled out the sticky note from before and placed it between them on the couch with the side with his name on it facing down. “This was you, wasn't it?”

Trying to not choke at the sudden confrontation, Minho turned his head away and coughed twice. He had already forgotten about the darn thing and hoped that Jisung had too. But of course Jisung held onto that note and kept it just for this moment.

“What is that?” He asked, playing dumb as if he hand’t just plead guilty in form of choking just two seconds ago. His acting skills were on point as per usual. “You know I can’t read English.”

Minho was a king at keeping straight faces when he really needed to. It helped him get far in life, but Jisung knew him all too well even in the shorter amount of time he’s known him. This time his acting wouldn’t get him home free.

“I know you can’t. Which is also why I know it was you that wrote  _ latte _ weird,” Jisung smirked. He had him right where he wanted him. “Who told you to do it? I know it wasn’t Felix and I know you didn’t do it all by yourself.”

Minho’s face heated up slightly in embarrassment. He began to wish he never even did it in the first place. But now that Jisung was onto him, he wasn’t going down alone.

“Seungmin gave me the idea,” he admitted. “But writing it incorrectly was all me. He said it would be a good way to mess with you, but I think it had the opposite effect,” he muttered, refusing to look anywhere except for down at his food while he played around with it.

Picking the note back up, Jisung leaned back against the arm of the couch and looked over both sides of the note with a soft smile. He had kept the condition perfectly intact since this morning. It was clear that he wanted to keep it for a long time.

“If it makes you feel any better, it made my morning. So thank you for that.”

Minho grunted out a small welcome at that, still refusing to look back at him. His confidence had deteriorated too quickly.

“You’re so cute,” He whispered without letting the other hear it as he placed it back neatly into his pocket. It was funny to him how the smallest thing could make him feel so warm and fuzzy inside.

“By the way,” Jisung mentioned once they were finally done eating. “Why do you keep doing that?”

“Doing what?” Jisung's lack of specification had struck Minho’s uncertainty once again.

Mimicking the older, Jisung hugged an arm across his front until his hand was pressing against his shoulder blade. “You keep touching that spot. Does it hurt?”

Obviously Minho hadn’t realized he had been doing that. It did feel strained, but he hadn’t wanted Jisung to know that. Slowly he removed his hand from his back and placed it into his lap.

“No…”

The way that he couldn’t look Jisung into the eyes was a sure sign that he was lying. This caused Jisung to pout with crossed arms. There were too many things causing Minho to avert his gaze from him. After a second of thought he got up and cleaned up their mess. “I’ll be back,” he promised as he headed out the door.

  
  


**Minho**

@meowho

How long will that be 😞

  
  


Headed back to his own dorm, Jisung was on a mission to find something in his bathroom. The lack of Felix’s presence caused him to sigh in relief. More than likely he was out somewhere with Hyunjin probably working on their dance class final. Without him though, Jisung wouldn’t have to explain himself.

He shifted around in the drawers and cabinets in the bathroom until he finally found what he was looking for. It was a pack of cold and hot pain relief patches. He kept them on hand for whenever Felix would strain a muscle while dancing or working out. Taking just one of them, he put the case away again and shut everything up before heading back to Minho’s room.

Since he hadn’t bothered locking the door back on the way out, Jisung was able to let himself back in freely. Only once back inside did he bother with turning the lock back. After all, it wasn’t Chan’s room he was in. Minho liked having a forcefield against those not invited in.

“Oh, that was quick. I thought you might be gone for longer.”

Following the sound of Minho’s voice, Jisung found him sitting lazily in his bed with an arm propped up on a knee while he played with his phone.

“I could if you wanted me to,” Jisung shrugged, earning a frown from the other. “I just went to get you this.”

He held up the patch for Minho to see before moving to sit behind him on the bed. Noticing Minho’s body stiffen at the realization of what was happening, he paused. The question of whether or not he should have asked before acting on his own crossed Jisung’s mind. He began to grow worried until Minho visibly relaxed again.

“You just have those lying around?” Minho asked casually as his way of telling Jisung to go ahead.

Jisung nodded. “I keep them for Felix. Whenever he strains himself I just slap one of these on him since I’m not as good of a massager as he is. It’s the best I can do.”

Minho smiled softly at the thought of it. He admired how much the two took care of each other, each in their own different ways. He was happy that he had Jisung now. Not in the way of stealing him from Felix, but in the way of Jisung now being here to help him too when he needed it. And if Minho knew anything about himself, it was that he tended to be reckless and Jisung could definitely become an even greater thing to him.

Tenderly Jisung pushed up the back of Minho’s shirt by the bottom, snapping the older out of his thought process. His hands slid up the smooth skin of Minho’s back, the heat radiating into Jisung’s fingertips. He wondered how someone could be so warm. It was as if he had just come out of the dryer. Trying to get his mind back on track, he asked, “which part is it?”

Minho reached his hand around until he found the spot, patting it softly.

Moving his hand there so he wouldn’t lose it, Jisung tried to figure out what to do with Minho’s shirt so it wouldn’t get in his way. Though it would be amusing, he didn’t want to stick it over his head. Thankfully Minho got the hint and held it up for him.

Jisung thanked him before tearing open the packaging with his teeth and removing the patch from inside. He then peeled off the adhesive part, careful to not let it stick to itself. There he was able to gently stick it to the area right under Minho’s right shoulder blade and smooth it down, trying his best to not hurt him. He let his fingers brush over it softly a few times before he set his palm flatly against the tone muscles of his back and brought his lips to the patch to give it a small kiss.

Out of surprise, Minho dropped the end of his shirt, letting it fall back around him. He turned around to face Jisung, his eyes moving side to side as he tried to decipher something in front of him. There was just something about the gesture that sent his heart racing uncontrollably. Fighting with himself, his subconscious dared to move closer until their faces were only a few inches apart.

“Jisung…”

His voice was soft as if he were afraid of someone overhearing. At this moment he was afraid of many things. The item at the top of the list was the fear of overstepping and making Jisung uncomfortable in any way. Gaining back control over his actions, he was just about to back off when the boy in front of him placed a hand on his.

Minho glanced down at their hands with just his eyes for a second before looking back into Jisung’s eyes. He could see an ocean of emotions waving through them, but best of all, they seemed to be inviting him. With this he closed the space in between them until his lips met softly against Jisung’s.

It was a simple kiss. One for giving Jisung a chance to break away after they parted if that’s what he so pleased. But he didn’t, so Minho moved forward once more for a slightly deeper one. Both of their eyes fluttered close as Jisung began to melt into Minho’s kisses.

There was nothing overbearing to it. There was no aggression or lust even. All that was put into it was softness and glee. The feeling of Jisung smiling ever so slightly into it filled Minho’s stomach and mind with butterflies. Smiling back, they kissed once more before Minho pulled back and rested their foreheads together.

“For someone that has such an outwardly cold and disinterested appearance, everything about you is so warm and soft,” Jisung voiced in a dreamlike manner. “I don’t think it’s very fair.”

Minho breathed out something between a sigh and a chuckle through his nose. “Can it be fair if it’s yours?”

Humming, Jisung answered with, “perhaps…”

“Good,” Minho whispered before using his weight to lightly push Jisung down with him until they were laid beside each other with an arm around the smaller’s waist.

Just like that the two of them found themselves forsaking their academic responsibilities just for a few hours of laying in Minho’s bed together. They promised to get back on track with their work afterwards. Knowing how incredibly busy they were about to be and how more than likely they wouldn’t be able to have this moment again for awhile, they couldn’t agree to anything more except for staying just as they were.

  
  


**Jisung**

@hansome

I want to get used to this

**Felix** @fabulix

🧐

**Jisung** @hansome

@fabulix Studying. I want to get used to studying.

  
  


**Hyunjin**

@hwangjin

I also want to get used to studying 😩

  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don’t forget:
> 
> 9 14 is HAN’s birthday.  
> Please congratulate HAN’s birthday🎉
> 
> And
> 
> 9 15 is Felix’s birthday.  
> Please congratulate Felix’s birthday 🎉
> 
> Our babies are turning 20 ｡ﾟ(ﾟ´ω`ﾟ)ﾟ｡ ❤︎
> 
> I’ll see you next Monday! Please leave any comments/concerns in the comments and I’ll be sure to read them~


	32. Chapter 32

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome back~ First off, I am ASTOUNDED by getting over 10k hits on this story! Usually I only get an increase of 300 something hits every update, but last update I received over 600! Honestly I’m super shocked. I know 10k is still a stupidly low number and doesn’t even register in the first 11 or so pages under highest hit count of a SKZ AU, but I’m still really proud of myself for getting this far. Thank you all for supporting me ｡ﾟ(ﾟ´ω`ﾟ)ﾟ｡
> 
> Without further ado, I hope you enjoy this chapter. I don’t know where I got the idea from; just as 90% of the rest of what happens here. Soon you’ll see me forget what I’m even trying to do in this story. (Do I even know what I’m doing anymore? Have I ever? Probably not)

* * *

The following days went by with everyone’s free time decreasing immensely. Preparing for finals week was sucking up everyone’s energy and will to do anything afterwards. The dance majors especially were rarely in their own dorms anymore save for night time. With their academic studies taking out their mind, their dance finals took out the rest of their energy.

Jisung had been left to his own devices with the way he was seemingly always alone in the dorm. Felix had been spending all of his time with Hyunjin as the two of them worked together for their class. Minho too was constantly caught up in his own preparations. He never had a time of day anymore to even have dinner with Jisung.

By the end of every night, everyone was so beat that they usually did nothing more besides eat and fall straight to sleep afterwards. On the bright side of the spectrum, Chan and Changbin still had time to let Jisung sit in their room and have their quiet company for a few hours while they all worked on their own thing. Once he was done there, Jisung would head back still way before Felix would and leave him some food sitting out waiting for him. He felt bad that his friend was always out so late and tried his best to make it a little easier for him. He wished he could have done the same for Minho.

  
  


**Baby 💗🔥**

( I’m sorry I always get back so late 😿 )

( I promise I’ll make up for it once everything is over )

  
  


( Don’t be sorry )

( I just want to make sure you’re taking care of yourself )

( No overworking yourself 😡 )

  
  


**Baby 💗🔥**

( But if I do, will you come take care of me? 😷 )

  
  


( 👿 )

  
  


**Baby 💗🔥**

( I’m just kidding )

( If you’re the one asking me to, I’ll do it )

  
  


( 🥰 )

  
  


**Baby 💗🔥**

( I can’t wait until the end of finals )

( I miss you )

  
  


( It’s only been a few days 😓 )

  
  


**Baby 💗🔥**

( That long? Wow )

( Goodnight. Say it back )

  
  


( You know I’ll always wish you a good night 😚 )

  
  


Jisung sighed at his phone as he stared at the messages. If they couldn’t even bear a few days apart, they wouldn’t ever be able to withstand a few weeks or more. Jisung was sure that the overly sad feeling was just from the extreme lack of socialization he’s had with any of his friends recently. Even though he was very much introverted, he still very much liked having even occasional interaction with his friends. The short time he spent with his producer hyungs was hardly enough to get him by.

At the first sign of hearing Felix coming back, Jisung tossed his phone on his pillow and launched himself from his bed to get to the front door. Instantly he met Felix with a great big hug, gaining one in return.

“Welcome back, Lix.”

“I thought you might have already gone to sleep,” Felix figured. With the way his already low voice was even more down below sea level, it was easy for Jisung to hear just how tired his friend was.

Chin resting heavily on Jisung’s shoulder and arms wrapped loosely at his waist, Felix was using Jisung as a support in keeping himself up. Thankfully for him, his friend had no problem in aiding him by keeping up some of his body weight.

“I haven’t gotten there yet. I wanted to make sure you’d be back alright.” Jisung shook his head. “Honestly, Felix, I’m a bit worried about you.”

“I’m alright. I’m here now,” Felix assured. He pulled back from Jisung so that he could head to the bathroom. “I’m taking a shower, I’ll be out in a minute.”

With a small frown, Jisung watched him disappear behind the bathroom door. After a moment he went back into their shared room and sat on his bed, glancing back at his phone. He knew that if Felix was coming back so tired, Minho was definitely going to be worse. Not only did he not have someone to watch after him like Felix did, but he stays out working for longer than Felix and Hyunjin do. Even though he said otherwise, Jisung couldn’t help but to think that Minho wasn’t saving room for resting properly.

Even though he tried to fight against the drowsiness, Jisung found himself falling asleep in his bed before he could make sure Felix could eat his snacks he left out.

Felix did however make sure to finish all of them after he was done with his shower. With them he felt so much better. He wanted to thank Jisung for them but decided against waking him up. He knew his friend must have been tired just waiting for him.

Stopping by Jisung’s bed, he gently stroked the soft gray locks and swept them out of his face. He leaned down to kiss his forehead and whisper, “thank you, Jisung,” before backing up to his own bed.

  
  


**Felix**

@fabulix

I love my best friend 🥺

  
  


It had only been about two hours since Minho had finally gone to sleep. Considering how late he finished up, getting anywhere close to even 6 hours of sleep was not going to be possible. This was even more so true when he was suddenly woken up.

Instead of it being a phone call to disturb his little sleeping time he was allotted, there was a slight rummaging noise that got him back into the world of the conscious. Wearily he picked his head up and looked towards the noise. It wasn’t a constant sound, but rather as if someone was slowly moving around his dorm. He was about to blame it on hallucinations from the lack of sleep he was getting when he heard something thud against one of his chairs outside his room.

“What the fuck is that…”

In all honesty, he was a bit scared despite being perfectly capable to take down a man if he needed to. Being able to hear the noise so clearly, it was obvious that someone was in his dorm. But Minho’s thing was, he always kept his door locked and no one had a key except for himself.

Carefully he moved out of bed and headed towards his bedroom door. He always slept with it closed for an extra layer of protection. Reaching for the handle, he turned it and quietly cracked open the door just enough to peek out. If anything, he would still be able to slam it close and lock it if anything proved that he needed to.

Even against the harsh darkness of the outside, Minho could see no movement. Waiting a second, he failed to hear anything else. He reached a shaking hand through the crack of the door to feel on the wall for the light switch. His fingers lingered on the switch for a second before he found the courage to flick it on.

At the sudden harshness of the light all he could see was some figure leaned unmoving against his counter in a drunken manner. The turning on of the light apparently didn’t faze whoever it was. Fear of not understanding or knowing who it was froze him in his spot. After a moment of letting his eyes adjust, he recognized them.

“J-Jisung?”

The boy being unresponsive to his name caused Minho to finally step out of the security of his bedroom and slowly approach him.

“How the fuck did you get in here?” He asked. The door was locked before him coming in. Seeing the direction of the lock on the door now, he saw that Jisung didn’t lock it back. Rushing over to it, he locked it back and stared at Jisung again in disbelief. He was seriously losing his mind.

Jisung was in his room but he wasn’t moving or saying anything. Was he drunk? Was he even real? Maybe he really was hallucinating from his lack of sleep and excess of missing his boyfriend. Minho couldn’t know for sure unless he touched him to make sure.

“H-hey… Are, are you alright?”

He slowly reached a hand out to rest on Jisung’s arm but the touch sent him falling over sideways.

“Oh shit!”

Before he could fall on the floor or hit anything else, Minho caught him in his arms. Holding him closely now, he could see that the boy was fast asleep. Despite still not knowing what was going on, he gently carried him to his bed. There was honestly no time for this, he needed to get back to bed. He needed as much sleep as he could possibly get.

After deducing that there was nothing that was going to wake him up and that it didn’t seem like the boy was sick or anything, Minho shut the light back off, closed his door back, and crawled in beside the sleeping boy.

As if he had some sort of internal heat sensor, Jisung moved closer into Minho's body until he was snuggled right up against him. Giving up for the night on trying to wrap his head around what was going on, Minho held him closer to him and buried his face in Jisung’s shampoo scented hair.

“I don’t know why you’re here nor how you even got in,” Minho whispered. “But I couldn’t be happier that you’re here.”

He squeezed him softly in a hug, trying to convince himself that he really wasn’t just losing his mind and imagining all of this.

“Really, Jisung… I need you so much…”

He yawned quietly as his eyes fell shut and found himself drifting back to sleep in an instant. With the presence of Jisung with him, his body made the little amount of sleep he’s receiving feel like so much more.

  
  


**Lix**

( Jisung? )

( Where did you go so early in the morning? )

( Oh, you left your phone on your bed )

  
  


**Felix**

@fabulix

Where did he go?

**Jeongin** @notyouroppa

Who

**Felix** @fabulix

@notyouroppa Jisung isn’t here but his phone is

**Chan** @cbang

He’s not here either if that helps

  
  


**Felix**

@fabulix

🤨?

  
  


Minho’s alarm stirred Jisung awake while Minho slept through the next few rings. Slowly but surely he was able to reach over and shut it off so the room could be filled with silence once more.

Jisung’s eyes fluttered up and began adjusting to the light of the space around him. Immediately the feeling of Minho’s warm body around him sent his brain into a mild panic. Accidentally kicking Minho in the shin, he jolted into a sitting position and began looking all around.

“W-what the hell? Why am I here?”

It was certain that he had fallen asleep in his own bed. He remembered doing it right after Felix had come back. What he didn’t understand was how he migrated from his bed to Minho’s within that time period. Felix couldn’t have done it, he decided. More than likely, he zonked out soon after him. He shot Minho a curious look.

“That’s my line,” Minho yawned, rolling to his back so he could look up at Jisung with minimal effort. He was too tired to even bother reacting to getting kicked. “You scared the living shit out of me last night, Jisung.”

Jisung pointed an accusing finger up at himself. “M-me? What did I do?”

Minho held up a hand to start listing off things with his fingers. “Well, you somehow got in here yourself, then you started smacking into things outside my bedroom, and I found you passed out against my counter. I figured you would be more comfortable in here so I carried you. Also it helped me sleep better, so thanks for that. The short-lived fear was worth it.l

Jisung stared into the void unblinking. None of what Minho said made sense to him. He put a hand to his head trying to remember anything, but failed to come up with a single memory.

“Did I sleepwalk all the way here?” Jisung asked, turning his head to look at Minho. “Though… it’s been a long time since I’ve done that.”

“If you sleepwalked, then how did you get in here?”

Jisung rubbed his fingers against two bobby pins that were holding part of his hair in place. “Who do you think taught Jeongin how to pick locks?” He asked, getting a dumbfounded look in response. “I guess I was just so worried about your condition that I slept walked here to see,” he admitted shyly.

Internally Minho was combusting and breaking down completely at the sound of that. Just the sight alone of Jisung looking so shy about being worried about him was enough to make him melt, but hearing those words made him want to put himself down under. Controlling himself to the fullest of his capabilities, he watched him steadily before he reached an arm up and pulled him back down and into the curve of him again. He couldn’t get enough of just how well Jisung’s body fit against his. He nuzzled his face against the back of Jisung’s neck as he hugged him lovingly.

“Do you know how much I appreciate you and everything you do?” Minho asked him and planted a soft kiss behind Jisung’s ear, causing Jisung to squirm in his hold.

“I hope it’s enough to let us stay like this for just five more minutes.”

“I see your five and raise you ten,” Minho bargained, already closing his eyes again.

Jisung would do anything if it meant he could stay like this for the entire day. At the end of it all, he knew that they couldn’t. Not yet with the way finals were still in the way of them. But with the way he was here right now fitted against Minho’s warm body and entrapped in his hold, it would make him last until they could freely do this.

Eyes still closed, Jisung let his hand wander down until it was on top of one of Minho’s. His thumb rubbed back and forth over the soft skin. He slid his fingers into the spaces between Minho’s until the older spread them so that Jisung could hold his hand.

“Should I throw away all of my responsibilities today?” Minho asked him, breath warm against the back of Jisung’s neck.

“I can’t let you do that,” Jisung shook his head. “It’ll be okay. I’ll send you with something so you can make it through the day,” he promised.

After their ten minutes were up, Minho reluctantly let go of Jisung so that he could get up and get ready finally. Heading to the bathroom to wash up he asked, “do you want to go to the café with me? Or are you going to eat with Felix?”

“Oh shit, Felix!”

Somehow Jisung had forgotten all about the painfully obvious part of all of this. He flailed to reach for Minho’s phone, checking the time. He groaned with his hands in his face once he saw that by now Felix would have already left to go to breakfast. And he would have  _ definitely  _ noticed the way that Jisung was missing but his bag and phone were still there in the dorm. There was no hiding from this one.

He stuck Minho’s pillow over his face, wanting to disappear. Just thinking about having to face him later made the thought of hiding out in Minho’s room even longer seem that much more attractive.

At the first chance of Minho trying to remove the pillow from his face, Jisung instantly forced it down even harder.

“Jisung, you’re going to suffocate yourself like that,” Minho cautioned, still trying to wriggle it out of his grasp.

“I’m fine,” Jisung huffed. “Just let me stay here and hide all day,” he pleaded as if that were going to help his situation any.

“Didn’t you say you were going to give me something that would make me last through the day?” Minho questioned with folded arms. “How can I get it if you keep hiding?”

He crawled back onto the bed when Jisung continued to refuse to budge. He couldn’t just let him stay there all day when he knew he had responsibilities to do. He sat against Jisung’s side and lowered himself down with a hand on either side of him. After a moment of holding himself like that, he tossed the pillow to the floor with one hand when Jisung was least expecting it and lowered his face down to Jisung’s now exposed one to softly kiss his lips.

Slowly he pulled his head back just until the tips of their noses were hardly touching. Looking into Jisung’s eyes he smirked at him and tempted him with, “get up, baby, and come with me.”

Closing his eyes and lowering his face back down again, he teased Jisung with a few more kisses before getting up and moving out of the room without another word. He knew he left the younger wanting more and he knew that he would follow after him for it.

“You fucker,” Jisung huffed under his breath, jumping straight out of the bed and quite literally running after him. He kicked himself for being so easily swindled by something so trivial.

“I liked it better when we were cuddling,” Jisung muttered with his arms crossed as the two of them headed to the campus café. He was pouting with his hood pulled over his head. In drastic contrast to Minho who looked as sleek and fresh as ever, he looked like someone that was being dragged out of self home isolation. The entire aura he was emitting was just making Minho melt over him even more despite the way he chose to dress. If Jeongin could see him now, he’d claim that Jisung learned not a thing from him fashion-wise.

“Just break into my room like you did last night and we’ll do it again,” Minho said and side glanced at him. “But this time, lock the door behind you and don’t knock into all of my stuff, alright?”

Jisung nudged him in the ribs with his elbow, telling him that that wasn’t what he meant to do at all. He still couldn’t believe he actually managed to do all of that while sleepwalking.

“Theeeere’s the missing person,” Seungmin announced as his friends approached him at the table. “You know Felix has been texting everyone asking where you’ve been?”

Sinking down into his chair, Jisung kept his gaze away and towards the checkout counter instead. He had somehow forgotten that Seungmin came here every morning.

“You wouldn’t believe it if we told you,” Minho assured.

“I live with Hyunjin, try me,” Seungmin challenged at the same moment that his phone buzzed against the table. Picking it up to see what it was, he began to stand up. “I’ll find out later from one of you. I have to go right now, business calls,” he waved with the phone in his hand and headed out.

Minho put a hand up in a wave and watched him go as he tried his coffee. “Speaking of Hyunjin,” he started once Seungmin was gone. “Is it just me or has he not been around Seungmin as much here recently? Are they fighting?”

“Seungmin said they never fight,” Jisung shook his head. “Hyunjin’s probably just busy with his dance finals. And Seungmin with… whatever it was he said he was doing again. Scamming people?”

“Tutoring,” Minho corrected.

“Same thing.”

“I don’t know…” Minho tapped a finger against the table in thought. He knew Jisung was as oblivious as ever when it came to these sorts of things, but he himself was different. Minho was far too observant to miss the slight change in attitude. The only thing that didn’t fit was the way that Seungmin was seemingly the same. “I’d love to find out, but I don’t have the time of day,” he sighed with his head back. He really couldn’t wait for finals to be over with.

“Maybe I can find out from Felix?” Jisung proposed. “They’re always together these days.”

Minho bobbed his head, thinking that could work. “Yeah, do that. In the meantime, I’m heading out first,” he said as he got up only to lean his hands on the table in front of Jisung to the point that their faces were at the same level. “I’ll see you later, okay?”

“You better,” Jisung narrowed his eyes at him but still leaning forward to plant a small kiss on Minho’s button nose. “Don’t stress yourself too much,” he smiled.

“Remember to lock my door back if you break in again,” Minho reminded before standing up straight and heading out of the building and towards his class.

  
  


**Jisung**

@hansome

I’ll leave the door wide open next time 😤

**Felix** @fabulix

You disappear on me and this is the first thing you have to say for yourself?

**Chan** @cbang

Changbin loves leaving my door open when he’s in a rush 🙄

**Jeongin** @notyouroppa

Am I the only one curious what door he’s talking about?

  
  


( Hey Lix 😅 )

  
  


**Lix**

( Uhuh. )

  
  


( 😓 I’m sorry I missed breakfast with you )

  
  


**Lix**

( I’m waiting… )

  
  


( 👉👈 so uh…. I know this probably sounds crazy, but I sleptwalked last night )

( and somehow managed to completely break into Minho’s dorm )

( 😬 )

  
  
  


**Felix**

@fabulix

He. What.

**Jeongin** @notyouroppa

Someone better fill me in 😫 I can’t go over there to figure it out myself today

**Felix** @fabulix

@notyouroppa I’ll text you later

  
  


**Lix**

( Hang on just a second… )

( You mean to tell me that while ASLEEP you left our room, PICKED HYUNG’S LOCK, and got into his room? Last night? )

  
  


( And apparently I didn’t lock the door back so there’s that too )

( I shocked myself too. I don’t remember a thing )

  
  


**Lix**

( And I was too tired to even hear you leave )

( What did hyung do? 👀 )

  
  


( Uhhh… )

( Tucked me in 🤗 )

  
  


**Lix**

( You expect me to believe that’s all that happened? )

  
  


( 😇 That’s it )

  
  


**Lix**

( I can see that Jeongin didn’t train you to be a very good liar 😒 )

( Now. )

( Did you, you know )

( 💋 )

( “oh baby, good morning. I don’t know how I got here but you look so sexy like this- mwah mwah” )

  
  


**Jisung**

@hansome

I do NOT talk like that 🤢

  
  


( snjsj- FELIX )

( That’s not how that went at all 😖 )

( I’m classier than that )

  
  


**Felix**

@fabulix

“That’s not how that went at all” AHAHA I KNEW THEY DID AFTER ALL

**Jisung** @hansome

STOP SUBTWEETING IN THE MIDDLE OF OUR CONVO

  
  


**Jeongin**

@notyouroppa

I’m losing my mind 😫 What is he talking about

**Changbin** @spearb

If it makes you feel any better, I don’t even know 🥰

**Jeongin** @notyouroppa

@spearb now that’s a turn of events 👀

  
  


**Lix**

( 🤧 Sungie is growing up )

( I’m so proud )

  
  


( 😢 I’m just trying to live my best life and you’re over there making fun of me )

  
  


**Lix**

( Making fun of you? Never. )

( If you want to sneak out and go kiss your boyfriend at night, who am I to stop you? )

  
  


( … ANYWHO )

( So Felix. Has Hyunjin been acting weird? )

  
  


**Lix**

( You sure are quick to change the subject. But no, I don’t think so. Why? )

  
  


( Minho said he’s been a bit distant from Seungmin lately. He’s wondering if something is up )

  
  


**Lix**

( Hm… )

( I’m on the case )

( I’ll see you back at the dorm )

( unless… you want to sneak out again 😽 )

  
  


( I think I might just block you )

  
  


**Lix**

( Cuddling with hyung must have made him literally rub off on you because you sound like him towards Binnie )

  
  


( 😑 )

  
  


**Felix**

@fabulix

This is so much fun 🥰

**Felix** @fabulix

@spearb come join

**Minho** @meowho

@spearb stay away

  
  


**Changbin**

@spearb

magic 8 ball, should I listen to my boyfriend or the one that hurts me?

**Minho** @meowho

I don’t think that’s how magic 8 balls work

**Magic 8 Ball** @magic8ball

Signs point to Felix

  
  


**Minho**

@meowho

Wtf

  
  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, please leave any comments/concerns in the comments below for me to read and I’ll see you next Monday!
> 
> Longer chapters are to come (:


	33. Chapter 33

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome back~ My ADHD is running wild so these chapters are coming out all over the place ｡ﾟ(ﾟ´ω`ﾟ)ﾟ｡ It’s like I have a goal in mind but the slightest thing I write distracts me and sends me an entirely different way. Anyways, enjoy :D

* * *

  
“I can’t wait... until... we’re done with this,” Hyunjin panted out.

For the past five hours, he and Felix both had been working on their final performance. It was a partner project where the two of them had to come up with a choreography for a song and synchronize themselves. Although it sounded simple enough, the time they were given to complete it wasn’t as long as they’d hoped.

Felix laid opposite of Hyunjin where their sweat slicked hair was the only thing touching. With his eyes closed, he had one arm at his side and the other on his slightly rumbling stomach. He too wished for finals to be over with. He needed a break. The both of them did. They had been at this constantly yet they still weren’t quite finished.

“We don’t have that much left to do. By the end of next week we’ll be able to rest for a month and recuperate.”

The thought of it alone was like a dream to the both of them. With only a little more work to put in, they would be free from all school responsibilities. It wasn’t hard to believe how long they’ve been in the semester up until now. They’ve both come so far in their dancing since the very beginning. If only they could have gotten to where this much work wouldn’t put such a strain on their bodies.

“By the way, hyung,” Felix thought, looking up at the ceiling. “How has everything been with you?”

“What are you talking about?” Hyunjin asked, wiping a bead of sweat from the side of his face. “You’ve been with me for all of the last week.”

“Not that,” Felix shook his head. “I meant, you and Seungmin. A little birdie told me that something might be going on.”

“We’re not fighting if that’s what you think-“

“That’s not what I think,” Felix affirmed. The tone of the older’s voice hinted at there definitely being something there. He just didn’t know what. “What is it?”

Sighing, Hyunjin let his arms down against the hard floor in opposite directions from each other. “Felix. What do you think I’m good at?”

“What?” Felix blinked his eyes up towards where his friend laid. That was an odd question to ask given the subject they were on. “You’re good at a lot of things.”

He wasn’t sure where Hyunjin was going with that at all. Of course he thought his friend was good at a lot of things. Not just with dancing, he seemed to be very versatile in many areas.

Hyunjin breathed out a small beat of a laugh at how supportive Felix was. “And what do you think I’m bad at?”

Felix hummed in thought at that. What was Hyunjin bad at? He didn’t quite know how to answer. He didn’t particularly think he was really bad at anything. So he decided to ask, “what do _you_ think you’re bad at?”

“Academics.”

It was a simple answer, but not one that Felix would have guessed. Turning pieces around in his mind, he tried to make out what Hyunjin was playing at.

“You’re probably wondering why I haven’t properly said anything to Seungmin,” he started. The honesty started slowly pooling out of him. “At first, it was because I didn’t want to screw things up. We’ve known each other for a while now and, I didn’t want to overstep the boundaries and make things weird. You could say I was scared to ruin our friendship so I kept all of that inside and played things off,” he said, resting a hand on his chest now.

Felix was rolled over now so he could watch him with his full attention.

“It was fun meddling into Jisung and Minho hyung’s relationship together. It took a lot of the focus off of me,” Hyunjin smiled softly though it quickly faded again. “But since that’s over with, I don’t have a shield anymore.”

“Why are you hiding? Why can’t you just tell him how you feel?”

“Believe me, Felix. Seungmin is smart. Super smart. He picked up on all of Jisung’s distressed signs before I could ever. I have a feeling that he already knows.”

“So if he possibly already knows…”

“I think I’m a good dancer, Felix. Maybe a good actor too. I also think I’m drop dead gorgeous and one of the funniest people I’ve ever met,” Hyunjin pointed in the air, ticking off each item. “But I don’t come close to him when it comes to academics. I’m not good at studying or taking tests. I have the IQ of a rabbit compared to him, I think.”

“But you have all passing grades,” Felix argued. “I don’t think you’re giving yourself enough credit. What is it you’re trying to do?”

Hyunjin slowly pushed himself up into a sitting position. “My best.” There was a small smile on his face as he got up and extended a hand to Felix. “Come on. Let’s get something quick to eat so we can head back to shower and go to sleep finally.”

  
  


**Felix**

@fabulix

Do nothing but your best 🥳

**Changbin** @spearb

Late night inspirational quotes?

**Minho** @meowho

@spearb don’t question it, just do it

**Changbin** @spearb

@meowho 😳 yes sir

  
  


After filling up their stomachs with some food nearby the campus, Hyunjin and Felix said their goodnights and parted ways. As quietly as he could, Hyunjin crept into his dorm and shut the door softly behind him, using his hand as a cushion to damper the sound of the door closing against the frame. He knew that Seungmin was a fairly light sleeper so he tried his best to keep the noise down.

Tiptoeing, he headed to the bathroom and closed the door before even daring to turn the light on. On the counter he found a neatly folded change on clothes for him to wear after his shower with a note on top.

_So you don’t have to worry about waking me up ❤︎ Get to sleep as fast as you can —SM_

“You idiot… you don’t have to sign it. I know it was from you,” Hyunjin chuckled as he put the note back down, patting it gently.

At the first contact of the cold water spraying onto his skin, Hyunjin instantly felt so much more refreshed. It was amazing just how much difference in feelings shower could make after a long day. He had longed for this time of being able to wash away all of the ickiness.

He spent longer in the shower than he probably should have. It was cutting into his precious sleeping time after all. But his mind wandered to the note again. He couldn’t help but to start to think of it as being a bit sarcastic. How many times now of coming back late did he accidentally wake up Seungmin? He began to feel bad as he thought of the number.

Gently he ruffled the towel against his long hair until it was decently dried. Once that was done he neatly hung it up and brushed his hair out so it wouldn’t get knotted up. Then he shut the light off before opening the door so it wouldn’t shine through the rest of the dorm. Placing one foot in front of the other as silently as he could, he made way to their bedroom.

He sat at the edge of his bed, looking in the direction of Seungmin. The darkness made him unable to see him, but the soft sound of Seungmin’s breathing made it known that the boy was asleep. There would be no way that he would wake him up tonight by accident. Bowing his head in a silent apology, Hyunjin let himself lay in his bed with his back turned to the other.

_I just want to make you proud of me..._

  
  


—

  
  


The next morning Seungmin woke up to the first ring of his alarm. He felt his hand around until he could find his phone and click it off. Groaning quietly, he stretched his limbs out every which way and rolled over in bed until he was facing Hyunjin on the opposite side of the room. As per usual, the sound of the alarm did nothing to wake the deeply sleeping Hyunjin.

Throwing his legs over the side of the bed first, Seungmin got to his feet only to crouch down at Hyunjin’s side. His sleeping face was peaceful and completely relaxed, bringing a soft smile to Seungmin. Reaching a hand up, he set it down lightly on Hyunjin’s head, fixing his hair out of his face. He thought he looked so much better when it wasn’t all hanging like a curtain in front of him. He softly booped Hyunjin’s nose with his pointer finger, causing himself to giggle as result.

He then stood back up to let Hyunjin rest some more as he got himself ready. Waking Hyunjin up was the dead last thing he’d do before he leave. Every little minute counted towards him resting. Knowing just how tired he was, Seungmin only wished that he could stay that way for longer.

Once he finished getting ready and set to leave, Seungmin approached his sleeping friend once more. With one hand he shook Hyunjin awake by the arm.

“Hey. Wake up.”

When the boy didn’t budge, he tried again, shaking a bit harder. Sometimes it was more than a challenge getting the heavy sleeper to get up.

“Hyunjin.”

This time Hyunjin stirred awake, blinking his eyes against the sunlight that faded through the room. Even though Seungmin left the blinds closed for him, the amount of light bothered his unadjusted eyes.

“Hmmm?”

Trying to roll over to go back to sleep, Seungmin stopped him with a hand. He rolled him back over until he was facing him again.

“I’m leaving,” he informed in a soft voice. “Don’t fall back asleep.”

Hyunjin stretched out his legs and let out a yawn with a small squeak before he nuzzled his pillow. “I’m so tired…” His voice was groggy as he spoke. It was painfully obvious that he hadn’t gotten enough sleep as he’d like.

“I know,” Seungmin frowned, fixing Hyunjin’s hair back out of his face. “Just bare with it a little more, okay? You’re almost done. I’m leaving for real this time. Make sure you actually get up.”

Hyunjin watched him tiredly as he left the room and out of the dorm. He heard the lock click back into place once Seungmin was outside. Eventually he made himself up into a sitting position, roughly running at his eyes.

“Just a little longer…” he yawned, getting himself out of the bed a little less than gracefully and pulling out all of his class notes. He didn’t have any time to spare.

  
  


**Hyunjin**

@hwangjin

I can do this

**Felix** @fabulix

I believe in you ☺️

  
  


“Felix… this is the last day you have to work on your dance right? Do you think you’ll finish early?”

Felix was wrapped up in Changbin’s arm using him solely as a pillow. He hummed a small “yeah” in response.

“He cuddled me all night, hyung,” Jisung informed as he lazily ate his breakfast. “He’s not going to let go unless you make him.”

Changbin looked up from where he pet Felix’s head, fingers entwined in his light hair. “Now why would I do that? Honestly, Jisung. Sometimes I feel like you don’t know me at all.” He shook his head at him, gaining an eye roll in response.

Changbin looked back down at the koala that had taken over his right arm. “Lixie,” he cooed, continuing to stroke his hair again. “Since today is your last day of classes for the week, I’m kidnapping you after you're done with everything.”

Jisung perked up at the sound of that, though he tried his best to not make himself look excited about it at all. Luckily for him Changbin was too busy watching Felix to even notice his change of energy. With the two of them occupied, they wouldn’t have a chance at noticing him skipping up to Minho’s room later.

“Will you buy me food and tuck me into bed?”

“You want me to sing you a lullaby too? I will.”

Jisung snickered at the tone of the conversation, having to remove himself from the table. “I’m heading out first,” he announced as he took up his stuff. “Have fun~” He waved, grinning before he made his way to his next class.

“He acts like he doesn’t act the same way when no one is around,” Felix sighed and looked up at Changbin. “I’ll text you when I’m done, okay?”

Changbin nodded and planted a kiss on the top of Felix’s head. “I’ll see you later.”

Reluctantly Felix unwound his arm from Changbin’s bicep so that he could grab his bag. He already felt sadder with the way he couldn’t lay against his personal pillow anymore. He would have to keep himself going until later that night when he was finished with his classes and dance practice.

  
  


**Baby 💗🔥**

( Did you ever figure out anything from Felix? )

  
  


( I didn’t really understand it )

( But Hyunjin is up to something )

( Felix says we shouldn’t meddle. They’re the ones that dealt with us so he thinks they can deal with themselves too )

  
  


**Baby 💗🔥**

( Fair point )

  
  


( Speaking of Lix 👀 )

( Changbin is taking him away tonight 🥳 )

  
  


**Baby 💗🔥**

( Oh? )

  
  


( I promise I’ll lock the door back this time )

  
  


**Baby 💗🔥**

( You know I can just let you in, right? )

  
  


( … )

( So it’s a date 🥴 )

  
  


**Baby 💗🔥**

( Hey baby?)

  
  


( 😚? )

  
  


**Baby 💗🔥**

( Please never send me that emoji ever again 🥰 )

  
  


( 🤝 )

  
  


Slowly the time ticked by and the last of the day’s classes finished. Felix and Hyunjin met up one last time to finalize their dance project. It would be the last chance they had before next week. After that, it was purely just taking finals.

“We actually finished!” Felix cheered, jumping on Hyunjin and wrapping his arms around him to keep himself up.

Hyunjin on the other hand could only manage to hold him up for a moment before losing strength in his legs and falling down. Still he kept his arms around the younger, hugging him happily. He let out a loud sigh of relief. It felt so good knowing that all there was left to do was performing the actual thing and getting graded on it. That part neither of them were worried about. They were both highly confident in the work they had put in.

“I’m surprised it didn’t take as long as we thought. We’re really good, Felix.”

Rolling off of Hyunjin and onto his back, Felix spread his limbs and stretched them out. “Super good,” he agreed.

After a moment he rolled to his side, propping his head up with a hand to study his friend. “So now that we’re done, what are you going to do?”

Hyunjin pulled his mouth into a thin line. “I still have a lot of work to do with studying, so I’ll probably be doing that for the rest of the night.”

“With Seungmin?” Felix asked, though got a stern look from Hyunjin in return. “What? Is that not a good way to be close to him?”

“That would defeat the entire purpose,” Hyunjin started. “I have to do this on my own. Besides,” he sighed, beginning to get up. “He’s busy with other things. I don’t want to burden him right now.”

He thought back to the note left for him last night. Seungmin was even more popular these days with the way he was tutoring everyone under the sun for their own finals. Even if Hyunjin somehow didn’t want to do this by himself, he wouldn’t dare to add to Seungmin’s already immense pile. The most he could do right now was to stay to himself and not disturb Seungmin. Trying to keep from looking downcasted about it, he turned away to gather his things.

Felix looked to the door, noticing Changbin standing there waiting patiently for him. He gave a smile and small wave towards him to acknowledge him and let him know he was coming. After grabbing his own bag he embraced Hyunjin in a small hug.

“Good luck, Hyunjin. I believe in you. I’ll see you Monday.”

With that, he gave him one last smile before he headed out the door to take Changbin’s hand and leave with him.

Hyunjin watched them go down the hallway. He didn’t miss the way that Felix swung their hands back and forth between each step they took. He couldn’t pull his eyes away until they were completely out of his sight. Looking down, he examined his own hand. He kept it there for a second before he slowly closed it into a soft fist and stuck it into his pocket.

  
  


**Hyunjin**

@hwangjin

They’re so lucky 🍀

**Jisung** @hansome

?

**Hyunjin** @hwangjin

@hansome people that win the lottery

  
  


**Jeongin**

@notyouroppa

If I won the lottery, I wouldn’t tell any of you 😈

**Jisung** @hansome

You better at least pay me back for all of that food I bought you 👿

**Jeongin** @notyouroppa

@hansome I’d still come for you for free food

  
  


**Jisung**

@hansome

Babie Innie hates me. It’s fine 😢

  
  


After leaving the dance practice room, Hyunjin made way for one of the computer labs. The library wasn’t an option for him to study at since it was more commonly known as Seungmin’s territory. Between there and their dorm, Hyunjin couldn’t be sure where he was. So the safest bet for him was to study by himself in a computer lab.

It wasn’t too bad of a situation for him. He had his notes and books with him and whatever he didn’t know he could try to find online. He had seen Seungmin’s notes so many times now that he had the basic understanding of how a study guide should look. It may not be as elaborate as something Seungmin could come up with, but it was better than the alternative.

Even though he was deathly tired, there was too much of his pride written on his quest. He needed to do a good job. More than that, he needed to ace every last final. Only then could he find the courage and willpower he needed.

After what seemed to be an eternity, Hyunjin dropped his pen down and ruffled his hair. His brain was becoming fried at his attempts of memorizing every little thing he wrote down. He was already tired enough as it was from a full week of choreographing and memorizing an entire song.

“Why is this so much for only a few classes?” He sighed out, rubbing at his tired eyes. He couldn’t take much more of this for the night.

Taking his notebook, he placed it directly up against the computer so that he could look between the two of them. For the next hour he worked on transferring all his notes to a document format so he could read them on his phone.

“Excuse me,” one of the attendants said to Hyunjin after awhile. “We’re about to close down for the night.”

“Oh, uh, please just give me 10 more minutes and I promise I’ll get out of here,” Hyunjin offered, holding his hands up together in plea for letting him finish.

The attendant nodded to him and walked back the way they came so that Hyunjin could keep his end of the deal. He was almost done. There was just one more page left to transfer.

As promised, Hyunjin gathered his belongings and left the computer the way he found it once he successfully finished his work. He bowed to the attendant in apology for staying so late before hurrying out so they could close.

“God…”

He hung his head down in defeat. His notebook was hugged close to his chest as he trudged slowly to his dorm. Halfway there, he hid it inside his bag, no longer wanting to even look at the darn thing anymore. All of his studying had done him in. He was so tired of the entire week. He couldn’t even care about eating. He just wanted to shower and fall straight to sleep,

Unlocking the door, he let himself into the room and sat his bag down heavily in a nearby chair. He missed the way that Seungmin came into the room to greet him. He had been too busy trying to rub away his migraine.

“You’re back late. I thought you would have finished up a long time ago.”

“I was done with Felix a while ago. I’ve been reading since then,” he explained. It wasn’t a lie. He had actually been reading. But not manga or webtoons like the younger might think. “I’m going to take a shower then go to sleep. I’m tired.”

Seungmin moved out of his way so he could get to the bathroom, watching the way he moved. It was clear that there was hardly any energy left in him. His mental battery was deplenished and he could tell. “Are you going to eat first?”

“Already did,” Hyunjin lied smoothly as he closed the bathroom door behind him. Food wasn’t on his agenda for the night. All he cared about was getting to close his eyes.

Looking around his room, Seungmin moved to his bedside and rummaged in his drawers. Smiling to himself once he found his objective, he closed the drawer back and waited against the wall beside the bathroom door for Hyunjin to come out. He didn’t have to wait very long until a wet haired Hyunjin emerged with steam pooling out around him.

Reaching down, he took Hyunjin’s hand and dropped a pill in his palm. When the older gave him a confused look, Seungmin merely handed him a bottle of water to accompany it.

“For your head,” he explained, motioning for him to take it. “You should know that staring at a screen for a long time will give you a headache.”

Hyunjin held it out in front of him, watching it like it was the best present he had ever received. Tossing it back into his mouth, he unscrewed the water bottle before washing the medicine down. He screwed the cap back on but held onto it instead of offering it back.

“Thanks, Min,” he thanked with a soft smile. He was about to move for their bedroom when Seungmin stopped him by the arm.

“You’re going to sleep with your hair wet?”

Apparently Hyunjin hadn’t realized he hadn’t dried it off with the way he was reaching for and feeling it between his fingers. Sighing, Seungmin slid into the bathroom, pulling Hyunjin with him. He grabbed a towel and fished out the hair dryer from under the cabinet. Sitting on the counter, he pulled Hyunjin over to stand in front of him.

“You’ll wake up with a huge cowlick if you don’t dry it first,” Seungmin said, beginning to initially dry his hair with the towel first. “It’s even more noticeable with your hair being the length it is.”

Hyunjin closed his eyes at the gentle gestures of Seungmin rubbing the towel against his hair. It was highly calming to him and worked at lulling him faster to sleep. Now instead of sleep, he wished to stay like this for a bit longer.

“You haven’t been taking care of yourself lately,” Seungmin scolded lightly as he unwound the cord to the hair dryer and plugged it in once he had used the towel to the best of its ability.

“If it means you’ll take care of me like this instead, I’d do it again,” Hyunjin promised, though his voice was drowned out instantly by the sound of the hair dryer. He chuckled a bit bitterly at his horrible timing. He took it as a sign that he really shouldn’t try.

Once his hair was finally dry, Seungmin turned the hair dryer back off and wrapped it up neatly. At this point, Hyunjin was gently leaning against the counter but more so against one of Seungmin’s legs. He waited patiently as Seungmin picked up the brush and gently brushed out all of his tangles. He was careful to start at the bottom in every direction so that he wouldn’t tug on his head.

“There,” Seungmin nodded, putting the brush down and admiring his work by running his fingers through it easily. “All done.”

Turning just enough to glance at him, Hyunjin thanked him and exited the bathroom to finally go to sleep. He wouldn’t continue being a burden to him for any longer.

Seungmin worked on putting everything back up to its designated spot before turning off the light and following the other to the bedroom. Not even two minutes had passed and Hyunjin was already dead to the world on his bed. His body wasn’t even under the blankets nor was his head on his pillow. The second he touched the bed, he was out like a light.

Sighing, Seungmin walked over to him and gently maneuvered his body so that he could fix the blanket over top of him. He then lifted up Hyunjin’s head and set it back down once his pillow was finally underneath him.

“I hope this will be the last of you straining yourself,” he whispered, stroking his head. “You can’t do everything yourself. You should know that even with your pride.” He pat his hair once more before wishing him a goodnight and crawling into his own bed.

  
  


**Seungmin**

@songmin

Just one more week

**Jisung** @hansome

Don’t remind me 😣

  
  
  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next up is a much longer chapter of Minsung with a dash of trying to make Hyunjin give himself a break ❤︎ See you next Monday~


	34. Chapter 34

( I’m here )

( Let me in )

  
  


**Baby** 💗🔥

( I can’t 🛀 )

  
  


In the same minute that Minho had hit sent, he heard his front door being thrown wide open. Jisung had dropped his phone into his pocket at the sight of the message and fumbled around with getting the bobby pins out of his hair and worked into the lock. In no time flat he had gotten the thing unlocked and open.

“Lock it back!” Minho yelled from behind the bathroom door when he heard Jisung barreling towards him.

Stopping dead in his tracks, Jisung backtracked to the door to double check that it was fully locked before resuming his beeline to the bathroom. He whined pitifully when he tried the knob and found it too to be locked.

“You got this locked too?”

He pouted at the way the outside of the knob had no hole for him to stick anything in to unlock it as well. The poked a finger against the smooth surface in dismay.

“Well yeah, I always do when I- Jisung what the fuck?!”

Holding up his unused library card, Jisung shone a look of pure innocence at him. Wedging the card in between the door frame and where it closed, he had easily gotten through the extra layer of security.

  
  


**Minho**

@meowho

Was this man some sort of ex-convict or what??

**Felix** @fabulix

Did Jisung break into your room again?

**Minho** @meowho

@fabulix and my bathroom 😶

  
  


**Felix**

@fabulix

😳

  
  


**Jisung**

@hansome

I can explain

**Jeongin** @notyouroppa

Go ahead then

**Jisung** @hansome

@notyouroppa No, I really don’t want to 🤗

**Jeongin** @notyouroppa

Pervert.

  
  


**Jisung**

@hansome

😰

  
  


“So what?” Minho asked with his arms back against the siding of the tub and head cocked to the side to observe Jisung who was just standing awkwardly at the door and watching his wall as if there were some invisible tv there. “Are you going to come in or play statue?”

It was clear that Jisung hadn’t thought this far ahead. All that had gone through his mind was how funny it might be if he actually did come in here like this. Now that he was in, he wasn’t sure how to act. He was actually glad for the angle he had, not being able to see anything. Looking fully away now, he held a hand up to his nose when he felt something warm trickle down it.

“You’re ridiculous. You come all the way in here and then your nose starts bleeding,” Minho scoffed completely amused. Shaking his head, he reached to the end of the tub so that he could let the water drain out.

Jisung turned his face away so quickly at the sight of Minho standing up that he smacked it straight against the door frame. “Ow, shit!” He cursed, holding his face. “Ah fuck that hurt.” He backed up to get well away from anything he could hit against and stood outside the bathroom.

“Here, come here,” Minho called only to have Jisung do the complete opposite. “I have a towel on, calm down.”

Jisung glanced towards him only to flee the second he laid eyes on Minho’s very exposed abs and chest. He tried hard to not think about how he could more than likely wash clothes on him if he tried. Or if Minho even let him. That was beside the point right now. All Jisung knew was that Minho was hot and he was having a complete mental breakdown because of it.

“Oh fuck, I’m going to faint-“ He collapsed down until he was sitting on his butt, hiding his entire face in his arms. He squirmed as Minho tried to get him to come back up.

“Jisung- just- come here a second,” he huffed, deciding on just picking the boy up under the armpits and sitting him on his bathroom counter. “Damn you’re a handful.”

Jisung wasn’t at all surprised by how easily the older picked him up like he was actually just some doll. He was just surprised he actually did it. His hands were pulled away from his face as Minho came in with a tissue. Keeping his eyes straight ahead, he let the other gently dab away at the blood until it was all cleaned up and toss away the soiled tissue.

“Now, where did you hit your face?”

Following Jisung’s guide of a finger pointed to himself, Minho planted a soft kiss down on his right eyebrow.

“Better?”

Trying to fight the feeling of his face burning up, Jisung stammered out, “a-ah, hyung, actually my lips kind of hurt too.”

Minho thought it was so cute how Jisung puckered his lips out slightly while tapping on them with a finger. How could he not fall for his trick?

“Oh that too, huh?” He asked, teasingly stopping just a hair’s width away and letting his breath blow against Jisung’s mouth. “Why do I get the feeling that you're lying to me?”

Jisung pouted even more, not enjoying the teasing as much as the other was. Crossing his arms, he looked away from him. To Minho, he looked like the embodiment of a big baby.

Chuckling and moving his face away, Minho placed his hands down on Jisung’s thighs and gave them a small squeeze before offering, “let me go put some clothes on, okay? Stay here for a second.”

  
  


**Jisung**

@hansome

I can’t win 😣

**Jeongin** @notyouroppa

You should quit playing, hyung

**Jisung** @hansome

@notyouroppa Isn’t it past your bedtime?

**Jeongin** @notyouroppa

😑

  
  


Once fully clothed, Minho came back to retrieve Jisung and put his towel away on the rack. He guided him by the hand until he made it to his bed and flopped down on his back. He held his arms out for Jisung to join.

Deciding against simply jumping on top of him in fear that he might actually hurt him, Jisung slowly crawled down beside him and laid halfway on him with his bent leg hung across him. Balling himself up, he burrowed his face into Minho’s oversized striped shirt.

Minho curved an arm around Jisung’s small figure, taking note at the incredible size difference in between the two of them at that moment. “Hey Jisung? How do you make yourself look so tiny?”

“It’s my special ability,” Jisung answered without pulling his face up. “I form to fit.”

“Form to fit…” Minho repeated, absentmindedly rubbing a hand against the smaller’s back soothingly then whispered, “I think that’s adorable.”

“I think you’re more adorable,  _ Lahe _ .”

“Will you ever let that go?”

“After you announced to everyone that I not only broke into your room again but interrupted your bath?” Jisung asked, a devious look on his face. “Not a chance.”

Rolling his eyes, Minho scoffed lightly. “You’re so easy to provoke.”

“Ah?” Jisung perked up, repositioning himself unto the top of his bully. “What was that? I’m what?” He asked as he gripped Minho’s wrists and pinned them down on either side of his head, leaning in closely.

Not at all moving to fight against him, Minho merely looked into his eyes with a daring expression. Patiently he waited for Jisung to do something, knowing full and well that he wouldn’t. Jisung was far too shy to actually act on anything, but he liked pretending that he had the courage in him anyways. All in all, it was a lot of fun for Minho to watch him behave like this. It made it a lot easier for him.

The oozing cockiness coming from the boy below him made Jisung’s gut clench up. Every bit of bravery in him had vanished in seconds at the way Minho was staring at him so expectantly and calmly. He knew Minho knew he wouldn’t do anything. Still the next words out of the older’s mouth made him deflate just enough to be visible.

“We both know you’re too scared.”

It wasn’t meant to be hurtful. He just said it as a fact. Jisung  _ was _ too scared to actually do anything he swore he would. At least, at this stage in their relationship he was.

Effortlessly Minho was able to slip his wrists from Jisung’s hold. With his pride currently at such a low, he was easy to maneuver. Bringing his arms up, Minho pulled Jisung down until he was laying flat on top of him. He hugged him gently as he ran his fingers through his silvery hair.

“Don’t take it as a bad thing. It’s endearing how shy you can be sometimes. But I know that you’re not always going to be like that so I’m enjoying it while it lasts.”

He sighed softly when he saw Jisung was avoiding eye contact with a pout on his face. Gently he pushed Jisung’s head down until his ear lined up where Minho’s heart was. Even though on the surface Minho seemed to be composed, his heart told another story. It beat rapidly against his chest and into Jisung’s ear where he could clearly hear it.

“I know I probably don’t show it very much, but you affect me a lot too. Even though I’m not shy, you still get me going.”

Jisung closed his eyes so he could hear the beating of his heart better. “I wish I could be more like you.”

Minho shook his head. He didn’t want that. “No, just stay as you and grow into who you really are. I’m dating you, not myself.”

Rolling over so Jisung could fall beside him, Minho placed a soft hand on Jisung’s cheek. “It’s late and I know the both of us have had a long day. Can we just go to sleep now?”

“Can I have a goodnight kiss?” Jisung asked with the biggest puppy dog eyes he could muster.

“You always want to kiss me, don’t you?”

“Always,” Jisung confessed, smiling into the short goodnight kiss he received.

The two of them fell asleep smoothly. The day had been long and busy for the both of them as they previously worked towards preparing for their dreaded finals that began in just a few short days.

  
  


—

  
  


Morning came and went with the afternoon taking its place. The two boys had slept well past breakfast time. The curtains against the window did a fantastic job at keeping the sunlight at bay. With the way the dark fabric was drawn shut, it still seemed like night time inside.

Minho was the first to stir awake. Comfortably he was able to get pulled out of sleep. Sucking in a short breath, he began to stretch his limbs out. He accidentally bumped up against Jisung’s sleeping body in the process. The fact that he had company completely slipped his mind. With the way he had been so deeply sleeping, his mind had completely shut down in an effort to reboot himself.

Lately he had been pushing himself to the limits with trying to balance studying with preparing his dance final project all by himself at night. His body gave in to the first chance of being able to rest for longer than a max of four hours. There had been no dreams for him either. But right now, he felt so much more rejuvenated.

His head turned gently so he could rest his cheek on his pillow as he observed the still sleeping boy beside him. Jisung’s head was no longer on a pillow. He was curled up into a ball with his cheek squished against the mattress and his mouth parted just enough for him to breathe out of it. His hands were closed in soft fists beside his face, calling Minho’s attention to them.

Reaching out, he carefully placed his own hand over top of Jisung’s and rubbed a thumb over the ridges of his knuckles. The faint scars painted across them were still prominent against the tip of Minho’s thumb. They were hardly there, but even then his thumb was sensitive to them. The remains were a painful reminder to him that he didn’t act quickly enough in sorting everything out. Suddenly a sullen feeling fell over him.

  
  


**Minho**

@meowho

I wish they would just go away

**Changbin** @spearb

What? Who?

**Minho** @meowho

@spearb you. Go away

  
  


**Changbin**

@spearb

NOW what did I do?

**Chan** @cbang

Did you draw on Jisung again?

**Changbin** @spearb

@cbang I’ve stayed in my house with Felix since yesterday 😣

**Chan** @cbang

Well you know what they say, an elephant never forgets

  
  


**Changbin**

@spearb

Sometimes I worry about him 😕

  
  


Watching Jisung sleeping so peacefully beside him now, Minho wished he could have fixed things a lot faster than he did. He wished they would have never gotten off on the wrong foot to begin with. There were a lot of things he wished to be different, but in the end he knew there was nothing he could do about it now. The plus side to this was that they were okay now. That’s all that mattered and he had to keep reminding himself of that.

He pulled Jisung’s hand close to him and softly kissed the top of his knuckles. It was as if he were making amends to them. To say he was sorry for causing their state of being.

He hadn’t meant to wake up Jisung in the act. But he should have known better than to think the boy would sleep through a kiss even if it were just on his hand. Perhaps he was just Sleeping Beauty.

“Sorry, did I wake you?”

Jisung looked up at him from behind half lidded eyes. It was obvious that he wasn’t fully awake by his lack of reaction. His movements were sloth-like as he slowly stretched his legs out of his ball shape, his body gradually growing back into its normal size rather than his small form. Minho thought the morphation was a shame with the way it took away the cuteness.

“Why are you awake?”

Jisung's voice was groggy as he spoke and Minho was floored by how hot it sounded. It matched so well with the messy hair that he was sporting. He wanted him to keep talking like that by any means.

“It’s past noon,” Minho answered as he watched Jisung pull the pillow over his head to block out the very little light that was in the room from reaching his eyes. “Did you not sleep long enough?”

“I can always sleep for longer,” Jisung yawned loudly, as he rolled to his stomach to try and get back to a comfortable sleeping position. There didn’t seem to be any interest in getting up for him.

Minho sat up and stayed like that for until he heard his stomach growling. Staying in bed any longer was not going to be on his agenda. He lightly prodded at Jisung’s side to see if he’d budge. “Jisung,” he tried when the younger seemed to continue to sleep. “I’m hungry.”

A moment passed with still no movement from him until a low voice finally responded with, “what do you want?”

“I want you to come eat with me.”

It was a simple request. But it was one that Jisung had to think about. He could stay in Minho’s bed for longer where he was warm and comfortable, or he could leave his divot and swindle a free meal out of his boyfriend. Neither of the two situations seemed bad, it was just that he was battling with his laziness.

Finally after what seemed like an eternity, Jisung got up with a long, drawn out breath. Minho didn’t miss the way that his arms were sculpted into muscles as he placed his hands directly on either side of him and pushed straight up. Swinging his legs over the side of the bed, Jisung stood up and made a beeline for the door.

“Where are you going?” Minho asked as Jisung opened the door and passed through.

“If I’m going out, I need to shower first. So I’m going to my room for a minute,” Jisung explained then looked back to Minho. “Did you… want to come with me?”

_ An invitation inside Jisung’s room? I have to admit, I’m a bit curious… _

  
  


**Minho**

@meowho

This is new 😯

**Chan** @cbang

You sure are cryptic today 🤨

  
  


**Jeongin**

@notyouroppa

We all know what’s up anyways 😏

  
  


**Minho**

@meowho

I’m just trying to live my best life and prepare for finals 😿

  
  


During the time that Jisung was in the shower, Minho had the chance to look around the dorm. He hadn’t been here before now, but he always wondered what it would look like. With the way he knew that Jisung and Felix were something like chaotic twins, he’d figure the place would have been a bit more messier. It may not have been as perfectly clean as his own, but it came close.

He made his way to what he assumed was Jisung’s bed to lay down on it. The only real dead giveaway as to what side of the room belonged to who was the guitar leaning up against the wall at the end of one of the beds. The rest of the room seemed to be fairly uniform. Minho figures it was just the similar tastes the two boys had.

“What are you doing on Felix’s bed?”

Immediately Minho jumped up in a frenzy. “W-what? I thought that was yours because of the- hey wait you’re lying to me right now, aren’t you?”

Minho crossed his arms at the snickering boy who was hiding his grin with a corner of the towel he was using to dry his hair with.

“Ah, it was too easy. You should have seen your face.”

Minho huffed at the trick as he sat back on the bed. “I wouldn’t want to invade Felix’s stuff. I knew this was yours from the start.”

“Felix honestly wouldn’t care if you sat on his bed or not. He likes to share,” Jisung shrugged as he approached Minho with a brush, offering it out to him. “If I’m going out with you, you have to brush my hair.”

“I  _ have  _ to?” Minho repeated, already accepting it in his hand without a second thought about it. He guided Jisung to sit in between his legs so that he could get to work. It wasn’t a hard task at all to do considering Jisung’s hair length. There was hardly any tangles to get out in the first place. It was as if Jisung had already did most of the work for him. Minho started to wonder if Jisung just made him do it for the heck of it.

“There,” Minho breathed, handing the brush back once he was sure it was all taken care of.

“Is it all nice and pretty now?”

“You were all nice and pretty before you made me do this.”

  
  


**Jisung**

@hansome

😭🥰😖☺️

**Felix** @fabulix

Are you having another stroke?

**Jisung** @hansome

@fabulix I’m just trying to live

  
  


**Changbin**

@spearb

It’s so painfully obvious that they’re together 😑

**Minho** @meowho

Go back to cuddling your boyfriend

**Changbin** @spearb

@meowho Who said I ever stopped?

  
  


**Minho**

@meowho

I’m reopening my block list and taking applicants

**Minho** @meowho

@spearb Don’t worry, I’ve already taken the time to put your name on the list

  
  


**Minho**

@meowho

Oh that’s right he can no longer see my tweets 😙

  
  


After Jisung was finished getting ready, the couple settled on eating at a chicken restaurant that was nearby the campus. They were just about to sit at a table towards the inner side of the building when Jisung noticed Hyunjin sitting alone at a corner table. He pulled Minho by the elbow to lead him over there.

“Hey Hyunjin, what are you doing here?”

The one in question had his phone prompt up against his drink in front of him so that he could read whatever it was that was on there. He had slowly been scrolling through with a finger every few seconds.

“Hiding from Seungmin,” he answered simply then suddenly looked up in panic as if Seungmin had come with them and he hadn’t noticed. Visually he relaxed again when he found the younger to be nowhere in sight.

“What?” Minho squinted his eyes as he helped himself to a seat at his table. “Why are you hiding from him?”

“Well, it’s not like I  _ need _ to,” Hyunjin elaborated, absentmindedly swirling his straw in his drink. “He’s been pretty busy with his own thing lately enough to where he’s not really around me much. But just in case, I didn’t want him to see me studying.”

Neither of the two boys in front of him seemed to be following along at all. They looked between each other only for Jisung to shrug as a way of saying he didn’t know anything.

“Ohh,” Jisung suddenly pointed a finger in the air as a realization. “You don’t want him to see you because he’s the studying king and you don’t want to look bad at your way of studying. But,” he crossed his arms in thought. “Wouldn’t it be a lot easier if you just got him to give you all of the answers? Or does he want to rob you blind too?” He had completely jumped tracks now with his way of thinking. “Wow… I didn’t think Seungmin would try to take money from you too.”

Hyunjin gave him a deadpan expression. He should have figured Jisung might have guessed something like that. The boy really wasn’t the best when it came to these kinds of riddles.

Minho seemed to be in the same boat with Hyunjin. He was staring at Jisung like he had lost his mind and was wondering if he was being serious or not. Shaking his head, he looked back to Hyunjin and apologized. “I’m sorry about him. He just woke up.”

“What? Was that not a good guess?”

Minho merely slid a menu in front of Jisung to keep him occupied. “Order some food. Whatever you want, just look over it.”

“Anyways,” Hyunjin sighed, leaning back into his seat. His eyes were set back onto Minho now. “Don’t tell him where I am.”

“Why? Is he looking?”

_ Was  _ Seungmin even looking for him? By the time Hyunjin had finally woken up today, Seungmin had already left the dorm. Since there were no classes today his trusty alarm clock didn’t bother getting him up before leaving. There had been no texts about his whereabouts nor if Hyunjin had even gotten up yet. By the end of his train of thoughts, Hyunjin deduced that Seungmin most likely wasn’t even bothering to look for him.

The sullenness of that conclusion seemed to be more apparent in his face than he had meant for it to with the way Minho quickly apologized for even asking such a question.

  
  


**Hyunjin**

@hwangjin

😞

  
  


The three of them ate together, keeping Hyunjin company while he tried his best to retain everything on his self-made study guides for each of his academic classes. He had spent more time trying to organize it all better so it would be easier for him to learn everything. Each study guide consisted of a good 10 pages minimum. He tried to switch up which ones he was looking at every day, but at this point he felt like every day would have to turn into every hour.

“How long have you been at this?” Jisung asked in worry as he scrolled through each word document on Hyunjin’s phone. He was more than aware with how much time and effort the older put into his dance routine with Felix. Adding this amount of studying into the mix might actually make him combust.

“Everyday after practicing with Felix,” Hyunjin admitted. “I still don’t think it’s been enough.”

He ran his fingers through his hair, ruffling it gently. Even though he had been burning himself out, he continued to feel that he was lacking, that he could do more.

A hard slap on the tabletop caused Hyunjin to jump in his seat and look at where a hand was laid flatly in front of him. Slowly he raised his eyes to meet the stern ones belonging to Minho.

“Hey. Don’t you think you’re pushing yourself too much?” Minho swiped his hand to the side to confiscate Hyunjin’s phone. He stuck it in his pocket when the owner tried to reach for it.

“Wait, hyung, I need that,” Hyunjin whined in urgence only for Minho to press a finger against his lips to quiet him.

“No, you’re taking a break and coming with us.”

“Us?” Jisung repeated, not following along with the plan. “Where are we going?”

“I want to see a movie and I’m dragging the two of you with me.”

  
  


**Jisung**

@hansome

No not this 😨

  
  


The movie in question was a horror movie that had just come out. Minho had been excited to see it but his two companions on the other hand were already trying to sneak out. Catching them both by the arm, he drug them with him as he got their tickets.

“Everyone says it’s really good and it’s not even that scary,” Minho assured, though the two younger boys were sure he was lying.

“I think we have been talking to two completely different sets of people,” Jisung muttered. He had done his own research prior to coming here. Minho’s statement didn’t fully match what online commenters said.

Nonetheless Minho still got his way and happily sat the three of them in the top row at the center. Jisung and Hyunjin sat together with Minho being the most inwards to the row. The two former made it about halfway through the movie before they had to hold onto each other for support. They gained Minho’s attention every so often, amusing the older with their attempted hiding.

When Hyunjin couldn’t take it anymore, he jumped up and ran across the aisle to get out, tripping over people’s feet and apologizing afterwards. Flying down the stairs two at a time until he reached the bottom, he swung himself around the railing and made a beeline for the exit.

  
  


**Jisung**

@hansome

Hyunjin you bastard 😫

**Felix** @fabulix

What did he do???

**Jeongin** @notyouroppa

Someone sure is aggressive today

  
  


With only twenty minutes remaining and Hyunjin still absent, Jisung tried to inconspicuously slide out of his seat in an effort to get out of the theater. He thought his heart was going to fly out of his chest at Minho suddenly grabbing his wrist. He stifled a yelp with his hand and cautiously looked at him.

“Where are you going?”

“I… I have to pee…” Jisung stuttered out, trying his best to be convincing. Too bad for him his acting skills were not on par with him being so scared.

Minho narrowed his eyes at him, examining every little part of his face that he could make out in the dark room. Finally he let go of him and returned his attention back to the big screen before saying a simple, “alright.”

All at once Jisung felt a rush of relief sweep over him. Simultaneously he pushed forward to get out of his seat and their theater. Once out, he started to look for Hyunjin.

It didn’t take long until he found his friend loitering in the arcade intently playing a joystick game. Jisung ran over and playfully hit him in the arm yelling, “Hyunjin! You’ve been gone forever!”

Dramatically Hyunjin jumped to the side and held his arm, reluctantly letting himself lose his game. “Ow what the heck? Is the movie over?”

“No,” Jisung crossed his arms with a huff. “I left too…”

Hyunjin snickered at that with a teasing look on his face. “What, you didn’t want to cling onto your boyfriend for the rest of the movie- ow! Hey, stop hitting me! I was kidding.”

“No you weren’t.”

“You’re right, I wasn’t,” Hyunjin shrugged.

“You were clinging onto  _ me _ in there,” Jisung argued.

“You were doing the same thing!”

After a second of scowling at the older, Jisung huffed and let his arms relax at his side. “Whatever, let’s play air hockey.”

  
  


**Minho**

@meowho

Where did those cowards go 😒

  
  


“That was a long bathroom break, Jisung,” Minho observed as he found the two of them competing in some fighting game.

“Ah, the bathroom was broken so I had to wait,” Jisung lied without trying to even make it sound convincing.

Rolling his eyes, Minho stood back at watched the two of them play games. The least he could do after dragging them into his movie without a choice was to let them have their fun out here.

  
  


“I probably should head out first,” Hyunjin spoke up after plenty of rounds in playing games with the couple. He extended his hand out to Minho waiting expectantly for his stolen phone back.

Jisung, forgetting all about the phone, stared at Hyunjin’s hand for a moment before slapping his own hand on top of it in a hi-five. He smiled up at the older afterwards.

“I think he wants his phone back,” Minho deadpanned at Jisung. He reached into his pocket and pulled the desired object out, offering it in front of him. “Don’t overdo it.”

Scoffing, Hyunjin took the phone. “Don’t be a hypocrite, hyung.” He knew just how much harder Minho had pushed himself while preparing for his own dance final. He waved to the two of them before turning and heading back to campus.

Once Hyunjin was out of sight, Jisung leaned into Minho, resting his head on his shoulder and hugged his arm as if he were a koala. “Honestly, why did you pick that movie?”

“I thought it would be funny.”

“It was a  _ horror _ movie,” Jisung reminded.

“I thought it would be funny to see the two of you freak out,” Minho elaborated, earning a dirty look from Jisung. He patted Jisung’s head lovingly as he asked, “you want to play some more? Will that make you feel better?”

“If I win, I get a kiss,” Jisung bargained, already leaving Minho’s side to find a game he could beat him at.

  
  


**Minho**

@meowho

That’s the cheapest prize I’ve ever heard of in my life

**Chan** @cbang

What did you win?

**Minho** @meowho

@cbang no, I’m losing

  
  


**Chan**

@cbang

Minho is losing?

**Changbin** @spearb

Losing what? I can’t see his tweets ☹️

**Chan** @cbang

@spearb why don’t you just use Felix’s phone

  
  


**Felix**

@fabulix

Why didn’t I think of that 🤩

**Felix** @fabulix

I love Changbin. Send tweet

**Felix** @fabulix

Minho hyung is a meanie 😾 send tweet

**Minho** @meowho

Get off of Felix’s account

  
  


**Jeongin**

@notyouroppa

Oh I love this game

  
  


**Changbin**

@spearb

I love Jeongin. Send tweet

**Changbin** @spearb

Wait wrong account 😰

  
  


**Felix**

@fabulix

Jeongin??

**Jisung** @hansome

Picking locks, I’ll take credit for teaching him. Getting into other people’s accounts, that’s all him 😐

  
  


**Best Bin🐽🐰**

( So hyung, what are you losing? )

( 🥴 )

  
  


( Get that damn emoji out of here )

  
  


**Best Bin** 🐽🐰

( 🙈 )

  
  


( A game, Changbin. An arcade game )

( 😒 seriously what should I do with you? )

  
  


**Best Bin** 🐽🐰

( I’m just playing 😢 )

  
  


( You’re losing, Bin. Stop playing )

( I take that back. I think you should play with Felix )

( 😉 )

  
  


**Best Bin** 🐽🐰

( Alright, alright. I’ll leave you alone )

( I have a feeling you want me to keep Felix here for the rest of the weekend? So he won’t creep on you two? )

  
  


( And this is why we’re best friends 😽 )

  
  
  


**Changbin**

@spearb

He says that yet blocks me every other week 🤕

**Minho** @meowho

“I’m just playing 😢”

  
  


Eventually Hyunjin made it back to his dorm, switching between reading the chaos of his friends and his class notes. When it seemed that they all would be quiet now, he closed out of the app and stayed on his docs. Without really even looking, he opened the door to his dorm and walked in.

“Hyunjin.”

The sudden sound of his name being called caused Hyunjin to jump and press himself against the wall, dropping his phone in the process. Sitting through that horror movie had him on edge. He looked over to the side of the room where Seungmin sat on the couch with a book in his hands and fake glasses on his face. The entire aspect about him was screaming cute nerd and Hyunjin’s heart was palpitating because of it. Luckily he had more than enough practice than he’d like to admit when it came to shoving those feelings into the pits of his being.

Having laid the book open on the couch beside him to keep his spot, Seungmin was already walking towards him. Stopping down to pick up the dropped phone he asked, “you’ve been gone all day.”

“Yeah, I was kind of on a date,” Hyunjin answered in reference to being something of a third wheel for Jisung and Minho. He looked back down when he heard his phone drop again.

“Since when do you go on dates?” Seungmin questioned, snatching the phone back up and keeping a good hold of it so it wouldn’t drop again.

Hyunjin studied him closely, hoping to find some jealousy seeping from him somewhere. He was disappointed to come up empty. Letting a small breath of air escape his nose, Hyunjin took his phone back and moved past him to go to the bedroom.

“It was just Jisung and Minho hyung,” He explained. “Hyung wanted to see a scary movie but I ran out before it was even over. Jisung too.”

Seungmin giggled to himself at the thought of Hyunjin getting so scared and leaving the movie. He wished he could have seen it for himself. Gently he leaned against the doorframe of their bedroom and watched Hyunjin flop down on his bed and roll over with his phone in hand.

“What are you doing now?”

“Reading,” Hyunjin responded with no specifications. He hoped that Seungmin would assume he meant comics as he usually reads. Though, since finals started approaching, he hadn’t been able to read any new chapters of his favorite series.

Tapping a finger against one of his arms, Seungmin took a moment to think before asking, “how’s studying coming?”

Hyunjin had to bite the inside of his lip to control his null expressions. “I’m not worried about it,” he replied easily. When it came down to it, he really did think that he was a good actor. If he kept it up, he just might be able to get away with it all.

“You’re not?” Seungmin blinked. It apparently hadn’t been the answer he was expecting. “That’s new coming from you. Every other finals season; or even test, we had you would always worry over it. I’m surprised you haven’t asked me for anything. Are you alright?”

“This is  _ university _ , Min. Things are different now.”

Though it was said nonchalantly, Seungmin picked out something else from it. Hyunjin didn’t dare to look at him. If he did, he knew that would provoke Seungmin to start prodding. So he continued to act until Seungmin lazily pushed himself off of the door frame and headed back to the couch for his book.

Sighing in relief that he was gone, Hyunjin put his phone down in favor of rubbing his face. “I can only do this without you or I don’t think I stand a chance,” he voiced to only himself.

He couldn’t keep letting himself feel so inferior to Seungmin. He couldn’t keep piggy backing off of him every test and quiz that he took. It wasn’t helping his image at all. He already believed that the younger saw him as nothing much else more than a clown. Right now, he didn’t think that Seungmin would take him seriously. This was the only way that he saw he had a chance in.

  
  


A few hours passed before Seungmin came back into the room to see if Hyunjin wanted anything to eat.

“Hyun-“

He quickly cut himself off when he found Hyunjin sleeping soundly with his phone still in his hand beside his face. Silently he walked over and gently picked up the phone from the limp hand that enclosed it. Flicking his eyes over to him to make sure he was actually asleep, Seungmin began scrolling through the screen. He stopped just after the second page before he scrolled back to where Hyunjin had it and locked the screen.

“I knew you were up to something,” Seungmin whispered as he reached for Hyunjin’s charger that laid on the floor. He plugged it up to the phone and set it back beside the boy before fixing a blanket over top of him.

Without another word, he left the room for Hyunjin to sleep in peace and him to get some dinner by himself.

  
  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> See you next Monday~


	35. Chapter 35

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome back for another [hopefully] exciting chapter~ This one is a bit longer than the usual word count. I will say as a warning; the very end of this chapter (as in the last set of paragraphs, at the end of the party) contains very /slight/ NSFW content. I myself don’t like to expose myself to explicit content as such, so I did write it *very* lightly. (^_^;)
> 
> I don’t know, I’m not good at those things. This is why I’m usually found writing fluff. Without further ado, let’s move on to the story ( ´ ▽ ` )

* * *

**Jisung**

@hansome

I. Hate. Finals week.

**Felix** @fabulix

The quicker we do them, the quicker we can finally relax 🤗

**Jeongin** @notyouroppa

Haha, suckers 👻

**Jisung** @hansome

@notyouroppa You literally have midterms this week?

  
  


**Jeongin**

@notyouroppa

Oh. That was a thing.

**Felix** @fabulix

ARE YOU MISSING YOUR MIDTERMS?

**Jeongin** @notyouroppa

@fabulix can’t talk, gotta go 🏃♂️

  
  


“I really can’t wait to get this over with, Lix,” Jisung sighed, putting his arm around Felix’s shoulders as they headed to their first class of the day.

With the way their finals were scheduled, both of them would have to take all of their class finals within just two days. The learning part of classes were over with just the finals being left to do. Once they were over with, they would be finished with their first college semester.

“At least the first one is easy,” Felix smiled. The first final was English so for him, that would be a breeze.

“But your dance final is after that, isn’t it?”

“Yeah, but I’m confident that Hyunjin and I have it down so it won’t be hard.”

Jisung pinched Felix’s cheek lightly. “I’m confident in you too so do it well and we can go eat later tonight.”

“Oh? You’re not meeting hyung later?” Felix asked in surprise. He would have bet that would have been the first place Jisung would run off to at night.

Shaking his head as he entered their class, he made way for a seat two over from Seungmin. “No, his finals run longer in days than ours so it will be the end of the week until I get the chance.” Just the thought alone of not being able to see Minho was enough to make him sigh as he placed his bag down on the desk in front of him.

Felix moved behind him to give him a small hug. “Awe, Sungie, I’ll cuddle you at night if that will make you feel better,” he teased and slid away before Jisung could smack him.

“Teacher!” Jisung yelled with his hand raised, “can I go ahead and start my final now?”

“You have to wait 5 more minutes so we can all start it at the same time.”

“Yes ma’am…” Jisung murmured, slowly putting his hand down as he gave Felix a side eye.

  
  


**Felix**

@fabulix

This never gets old 😌

**Jisung** @hansome

It expired weeks ago

**Hyunjin** @hwangjin

@hansome please don’t be a comedian

  
  


**Jisung**

@hansome

I see now why hyung has a weekly block list 😑

**Chan** @cbang

You two are becoming one 🤝💕

**Jisung** @hansome

@cbang don’t you start too 😢 I trusted you

  
  


**Chan**

@cbang

That wasn’t a bad thing 😔

**Changbin** @spearb

Come to my side, hyung

**Minho** @meowho

@spearb go to class already. Hyung, don’t listen to him

  
  


**Chan**

@cbang

What if? I actually lock my door?

**Jisung** @hansome

Good luck 👍

  
  


Felix flew straight through the test without a second thought about it, happily handing it in afterwards. To be honest, he shouldn’t have even been in that entry level class to begin with but an enrollment issue with his Korean name allowed him to take it anyways.

Seungmin on the other hand also finished just after Felix did. He had managed to slip into the basic entry class as well just by purposely scoring low on the placement test at the beginning of the semester.

“Hey, Felix,” Seungmin called out once he was out of the class. In a few strides he was able to catch up with the boy. “You really blew through that one. I don’t think you took a single page of notes the entire class.”

“Nah,” Felix waved a hand dismissively and tapped on his head. “I don’t need those when everything is up here,” he claimed then laughed at his own statement. “Honestly, sometimes it was a bit challenging because I didn’t know some of the Korean being said. But I had Jisung help with that.”

Sometimes context clues hadn’t been enough for Felix. Sure he was fluent in Korean at this point, but there were still some odd words that he just couldn’t figure out. He was grateful that he always had Jisung beside him to help him translate.

“Speaking of help…” Seungmin started, glancing back towards their classroom for a second. “Apart from your dance final, have you and Hyunjin been studying together?”

“Studying?” Felix repeated then shook his head slowly. “No, we usually just practiced, ate, and went our separate ways. I did most of my studying with Binnie hyung. Why do you ask?”

Seungmin watched as Hyunjin got up to turn in his final before giving Felix a smile and shaking his head. “Ah, never mind. I was just curious. Good luck with your dance,” he waved before disappearing down the hall.

Hyunjin exited the room just a minute later, approaching Felix. “You waited for me?”

Felix gestured to the end of the hallway. “I was talking to Seungmin, but also yes I was. Are you ready for our dance?” He asked, already leading the older towards the building’s exit.

  
  


The two of them had ample time before their dance final would start. They loitered around the performance building and managed to snag an empty room so they could practice their dance one last time before they would have to perform.

“We definitely have it down to every last move,” Felix decided with a confident nod. To save their energy, they didn’t go all out but enough to make sure everything looked clean.

Looking over to the window, Felix noticed Minho with his hands in the shape of binoculars as he was pressed up against the glass watching them. He shone a toothy grin when he realized they noticed his presence. Lowering his hands down, he let himself into the room and waved.

“I was just passing by,” he explained, sticking only his head into the room. A small part of his bangs were wet on the ends, signifying that he must have just gotten out of his own dance final. “I can’t stay and talk, but you guys did well. Good job!” He offered them a thumbs up before running off in a hurry out of their sight.

  
  


**Hyunjin**

@hwangjin

Minho hyung lives in the performance building: confirmed

**Jisung** @hansome

False. I’ve been to his dorm multiple times when he was there 😁

**Hyunjin** @hwangjin

@hansome you love calling yourself out these days

  
  


**Felix**

@fabulix

I feel like he’s the bridge troll and we keep barging in on his territory 🤔

**Jisung** @hansome

A troll?? 😳

**Changbin** @spearb

I knew there was a reason I loved you ☺️

  
  


Eventually the two dancers made their way into class. Each pair took turns performing their dance they choreographed while the others watched. It was graded by both the students and the teacher. Everyone had to rate each performance and turn it in. The teacher’s portion was weighed more heavily with the rest only adding up to a small percentage of the final grade. Most everyone thought that was redundant just for the thought that to get a high grade from everyone else, they in turn would give the same to them. Perhaps it was just an easier way of finishing with an A.

Felix and Hyunjin were near the end of the order. Getting to watch what everyone else came up with made them a bit nervous. There were so many different styles and genres of music chosen. They had to remind themselves of Minho’s praise and support before getting up and doing their own piece.

Both of them took in a deep breath and channeled all of their confidence into one place before starting. They had worked so hard on coming up with each move and synchronizing it not only with each other but with the music too. They made each beat count for something. In the end, they believed they had killed it.

  
  


**Felix**

@fabulix

That was an even better reaction than I had imagined 😸

**Hyunjin** @hwangjin

Very 👀

**Minho** @meowho

I told you that you guys would dominate it 😼 I’m proud of you both

  
  


**Best Bin** 🐽🐰

( Hyung! )

( Are you okay? )

( Now you’re not answering 😣 )

  
  


( I was in class )

( Why would I not be okay? )

  
  


**Best Bin** 🐽🐰

( Your tweet to Felix and Hyunjin )

  
  


( 😑 )

( My support? )

( How come every time I say something nice you think I’m sick? )

  
  


**Best Bin🐽🐰**

( 😅 it’s not a common occurrence for it to be so vocalized )

( I’m just making sure my hyung didn’t push himself too hard to the point of insanity 🥰 )

  
  


( Don't flatter yourself )

( If it makes you feel any better, good luck on your finals )

  
  


**Best Bin🐽🐰**

( 😭😊💕 )

  
  


( You’re embarrassing )

  
  
  


The next few days moved by in a sloth-like manner. Each final seemed to take longer than the last. The following days drug by even slower. But at last they all preserveered and all of the finals were complete. The two twins couldn’t be happier.

“Finally!” Jisung exclaimed, throwing his notes up in the air, causing a huge mess to rain down on their room. “It’s all over with! I’m done!”

“Hey, Jisung? You do know you need those notes for next semester too, right?” Felix sweatdropped at the sight of the mess his friend made. He knew it wasn’t a decision that was thought through, but he couldn’t have stopped it even if he tried.

Jisung lowered his arms back to his sides, staring blankly at all of the scattered and now out of sorts papers that covered their floor. It was an entire semester’s worth of notes that had been in his hand. In mere seconds they were nowhere near being organized like they previously were.

Slowly he covered his hands with his face and dropped into a squat. If he couldn’t see the mess, then it wasn’t there. That was the only logic he could go for at that time.

“I do not see…”

Sighing, Felix was already deciding on being a good friend by stooping down and collecting the papers back up from the floor. He didn’t bother too much with trying to sort them through. That could be done later by the man that threw them in the first place. Right now it wasn’t too high up on the priority list.

“You can’t go to the party tonight if you don’t clean this up. I’ll lock you in here in a way that you won’t be able to get out.”

“Impossible.”

“I will call Binnie hyung right now and tell him to lock you out of his house,” Felix threatened further. “You won’t be able to see your lonely boyfriend either.”

Jisung slowly pulled his hands from his face so he could glare at him with squinted eyes. “You wouldn’t dare.”

Raising a brow, Felix paused in picking up the papers to pull his phone from his pocket. Without looking he tapped on Changbin’s contact and held the device to his ear. It only rang once before Changbin answered.

“Hyung,” he started, watching Jisung instantly figure out he wasn’t bluffing.

The suddenness of Felix calling him and saying hyung in a serious tone had him a bit paranoid about what he wanted. There was a pause before a small, “yes?” was heard on the other end.

All at once Jisung frantically began to slide around on the floor to gather up his mess. “I’m cleaning! I’m cleaning! See?!” He carelessly pulled everything into a single pile, not worrying about all of the pages being turned in every which way. He just wanted Felix off of the phone.

Smirking, Felix relaxed himself. “Oh, I was just calling to tell you that I love you and I’ll see you tonight with Jisung. Bye, Binnie.”

With that, Felix put his phone back away with a proud look on his face before resuming to help his pouting friend get his notes back together.

  
  


**Changbin**

@spearb

I love random I love you calls 🥰

**Minho** @meowho

So when other people do it, you don’t think they’re dying and run to bang against their door 😒

**Changbin** @spearb

@meowho I’m dating Felix, not you

**Minho** @meowho

Thank god for that 🙌

  
  


As night fell, the two boys looked themselves over once they felt they were ready and nodded to each other. Felix admired the way Jisung looked dressed in all black.

“You look good, Sungie.”

“And you look cute,” Jisung responded, earning a frown from the other. “What? Hyung likes cute,” he nudged his side. “Come on, let’s go.”

They left the dorm together and moved away from the campus. Changbin’s place wasn’t too far from them, but because of the weather being on the colder side that day, they decided to take a quick taxi ride instead of walking the distance.

Once finally at their destination, they headed up the walkway and stopped at the front door. Felix pressed the button beside the doorframe to let Changbin know they had arrived. In only a few seconds a small beep sounded in the door handle, signifying that it had been unlocked for them. 

“I’ll never get over the high tech of this place,” Jisung commented as he followed Felix inside.

No one was by the door for them to come in. Changbin had merely unlocked it electronically by his phone. The one in question was sitting on the couch with Minho beside him. The rest of their friends sat around them with all of their attention pointed in one place.

“JEONGIN?”

Both of them had said it simultaneously, gaining the attention of everyone in the room. Neither had expected Jeongin to be here right now, but with the way everyone else was sitting around him so casually, they seemed to be the only ones surprised.

Jeongin looked up to the sound of his name being called and waved innocently at his friends. “Oh look who finally showed up! You guys are late.”

Minho twisted around towards the back of the couch to see the last guests make their appearance, smirking when he laid his eyes on Jisung. “I like your friend. I wish I met him sooner. He’s fun.”

Jisung couldn’t help but run over and point at Jeongin. “You! I didn’t know you were coming! Why didn’t you tell us? Wait-“ he stopped, rethinking his thoughts. “How did you get here?”

“I invited him,” Changbin answered with a raised hand.

“This is your fault,” Jisung pointed accusingly towards Felix. “You got them close.”

“I think I did that on my own,” Jeongin corrected, smiling at his friends with a very comfortable posture. “And see, it’s only been maybe an hour and we’re all so close.”

Prior to coming to the party, Changbin and Jeongin had already made themselves acquainted long ago via text. Since he was Felix and Jisung’s friend, Changbin figured it would be good to know him. And since their friendship was continuing to bloom, the older extended the invitation out to join them at his party. Why not? After all, this was  _ his _ house.

Minho on the other hand had been pleased with this sudden guest. After connecting how he was  _ the _ Jeongin that Jisung talked so dearly about, he had been more than humble to him and told Changbin to make sure he was comfortable. Everyone else was already interested in the grade schooler by the energy he emitted.

Jeongin in turn sat himself around the friend group and began bringing up old times he'd had with the two prior to them leaving him for university. Neither of the two were there to stop him, so he turned the party into story time until the ones in question would arrive.

**Felix**

@fabulix

We’re doomed

**Jisung** @hansome

They know all of our secrets by now 😰

**Hyunjin** @hwangjin

Oh? Was he supposed to tell us secrets?

**Jisung** @hansome

@hwangjin We already know that weasel did 😤

  
  


After Jisung and Felix had broken up Jeongin’s tales of two dweebs, the tone of the party was set back on track to what it was meant for. Chan took over Changbin’s surround sound system to play a prerecorded DJ session he personally produced. It wasn’t done in thought of the party. Chan had merely done it before as a portion of his portfolio.

Eyeing Minho in the kitchen getting himself a drink, Jisung slinked himself beside him and the refrigerator. Not knowing what Jeongin had mentioned about him, Jisung was acting cautiously.

Minho eyed him from the side, silently drinking from his bottle. He only got a few sips in before lowering it from his mouth. Taking Jisung’s hand, he replaced the bottle in his grasp.

“You look like you need this more than I do.”

Jisung frowned at him in response, but still held the drink between both of his hands.

“Hyung,” he started, earning a patient look from the older. “Do I want to know what he said? Even if it’s not about me, what about Felix?”

Exhaling a breath through his nose with a gentle smile on his face, Minho reached out and rubbed the top of Jisung’s hair. “You’re so cute,” he cocked his head, watching Jisung’s shifting eyes. Of course he wouldn’t tell him what Jeongin said. That would ruin all of the fun.

Jisung stood frozen in place when Minho took his hand back to reach past him for another bottle before backing up and heading in Chan’s direction. Felix snuck up behind Jisung once he was alone. Resting his hands on Jisung’s shoulders, he leaned in and asked, “what did he say?”

“He said I was cute then walked away,” Jisung huffed. He studied the bottle in his hands for a moment before raising it to his mouth and throwing it back.

Felix watched him curiously from behind as the bottle slowly became empty. The bottle was set down with a heavy clank on the counter once it was finished with and replaced with a fresh one. One more was picked up but handed to Felix.

“Gear up, Lix. We can’t let him make a fool out of us.”

  
  


**Felix**

@fabulix

This is a terrible idea

**Chan** @cbang

You know what they say; if you can’t beat them, join them

  
  


**Felix**

@fabulix

Ah screw it, this looks fun

  
  


Jisung’s grand master plan was to drink himself to a point of absolute confidence and make everyone forget about whatever it was that Jeongin could have said about them. In his mind, him being a party animal now was a lot better of a memory than those of embarrassing moments he’s had with the youngest boy there.

He pulled Changbin with him into starting off a karaoke performance. The floor had been clear for the full effect of having a mini concert inside the home. Due to a lack of nearby neighbors, there was no limit to how loud they could be. 

Stealing the mic from Changbin, Felix joined in on the next song while dragging Jeongin in with him. It had been some time before he last heard Jeongin sing anything so he figured this was a good time to get him started again.

“Oh he can sing too,” Hyunjin noted in an impressed way from where he stood to the side. He jokingly nudged Seungmin in the side before adding, “you could learn from him.”

“So could you.”

“That was bad,” Hyunjin narrowed his eyes. Usually Seungmin would have a better comeback than that. “I’m a dancer, not a singer.”

“You sing in the shower,” Seungmin pointed out lamely.

“That’s not the same,” Hyunjin murmured, watching the show play out before him. It wasn’t much longer until Felix was reaching the same levels of liquid confidence as Jisung was. He ran over to take Hyunjin by the hands and look him in the eyes with a shine in his own.

“Hey, let’s do our dance,” he suggested with a wide grin. Not waiting for Hyunjin to agree, he guided him to the middle of the floor and lightly shooed Jisung away. “Move, move. It’s our turn. You don’t dance,” he instructed before looking at DJ Chan. “Hyungie! Play our song, please!”

“I don’t know, shouuuuuld I?” Chan smirked in Changbin’s direction. He laughed at the glare he was receiving. He knew Changbin was telling him to stop teasing him already. Looking back towards the computer, he pulled up the song and clicked play once he saw the two dancers in their places.

  
  


**Changbin**

@spearb

I’m not going to survive tonight 😳

**Changbin** @spearb

He did this for CLASS?

**Minho** @meowho

No, it wasn’t at this level when I saw them doing it earlier 😶 These are the drinks kicking in

  
  


**Seungmin**

@songmin

They do realize that we’re all right here, right? Why are they tweeting?

**Chan** @cbang

Now you’re doing it

  
  


**Minho**

@meowho

WAIT JISUNG

  
  


For someone that didn’t practice with the two dance majors of his year, Jisung definitely had a good majority of the moves down. Ignoring what Felix said about him not being a dancer, he still jumped straight into the performance like he owned it. Somehow, drinking not only gave him the courage to try it, but also the skill to pull off their routine like he had been with them the entire time. It was Ike he had unlocked a special skill inside of him. He moved himself in the middle of the two, combining both of their gestures into an equally balanced one. Everyone was staring in amazement at his hidden ability. Minho especially was trying his best with containing himself.

“Hyung sure is feeling himself now,” Jeongin commented, not even having to look at Minho to know he was beyond baffled. “This should be fun for the both of you,” he winked to Changbin and Minho.

Chan wasn’t letting up on allowing Jisung or Felix’s momentum to disappear. Once the dance song ended, he offered them back the karaoke mics and played the first song that came to mind. Being the orchestrator of having his two younger friends combust over their boyfriends was so much fun to him.

“Hyung,” Changbin said, holding onto Minho’s arm. “We need to do something, he’s plotting against us.”

“I would say there’s two options, but I think we need to be the responsible ones here. Something tells me they’re going to need babysitters later.”

At the rate that things were going, Jisung and Felix we’re taking over the party and calling all of the shots. Both literally and figuratively. They set up a nice game of cup pong down the island in Changbin’s kitchen. Jisung had recruited Seungmin to his team for his good aim while Changbin pulled Minho. Since Jeongin wasn’t drinking and Chan was doing so very lightly, they stayed out of the game completely. Hyunjin and Felix would play the winner as the final match.

“Okay, Bin,” Minho whispered with an arm around his shoulders to pull him close so others wouldn’t hear. “We need to beat both of them. Don’t let them make us drink.”

“I’m not really worried,” Changbin admitted. “Half of both teams' perception of things are off.”

“But the other half,” Minho countered, but got caught off by an impatient Jisung behind him.

“ _ Hey, come on, man. _ What are you waiting for,  _ let’s play. Start, start. _ ”

“Pick a language, Jisung.” Minho removed his arm from Changbin to face him and his partner. “Don’t get too excited, you’re going to lose anyways and drink everything in front of you.”

Jisung made an O with his mouth, interested in the way the older was acting so confident. He stepped in front of his end of the island and held his hand out for a ball which Jeongin and Chan handed out to both teams. Jisung and Changbin were the first up to decide who got to start.

“You have to look in his eyes, not mine,” Minho corrected with arms crossed in front of him.

“But you’re so pretty,” Jisung grinned. He didn’t pull his eyes away from Minho’s as he flicked the ping pong ball out of his fingers and directly into the cup straight in front of the pretty boy. At the same time, Changbin also made his first shot.

Jeongin looked to the cups, then to Chan asking, “what happens then?”

“Switch people and redo it.”

Both teams removed the ball from the cups they landed in and switched shooters. Minho warily looked at Seungmin, trying to figure out if he were playing to win. If that were the case, the game would be harder for him. He just hoped that Seungmin wouldn’t try so hard.

The answer was: Seungmin wasn’t planning on losing. Or at least, not so easily. He flawlessly landed the cup in the front while Minho’s just barely spun off the rim.

“Damn it,” Minho cursed under his breath as he took the ball out of the cup. Since it was only the first shot he wouldn’t have to drink, but now this just gave his opponents a chance to make them.

  
  


**Chan**

@cbang

If only they realized they wouldn’t have to drink as much if they lost just one round instead of played two 😅

**Jeongin** @notyouroppa

Thankfully none of them are looking at their phones 🥳

  
  


The first game ended with Changbin ending it by calling and making an island shot, taking out their last two cups before Jisung and Seungmin could sink their last three. Since it was the last two left, they were split between Seungmin and Jisung.

Chan and Jeongin reset and refilled the cups for the next game. Hyunjin and Felix replaced their friends’ position at one end of the game. Felix was leaned in whispering something in Hyunjin’s ear. The way Hyunjin laughed and gave him a pat on the shoulder unsettled the two elders at the other end.

Since Changbin ended the last game, he was first up for shooting. Felix was leaned gently with his hands against the granite as he looked at Changbin in something close to a sensual way. This went duly noted by Changbin and Minho both. The latter lightly kicked his friend in the foot, telling him to not be so easily affected.

_ I’m not looking. I’m not looking _ . Changbin mentally repeated over and over as he fixed his vision on just one of the many cups in front of him. Biting his lip, he raised the ball as steady as he could and pulled his hand back to shoot.

“Changbinnie.”

It was just his name. It was just three syllables but the way that Felix purred it out in the way that he did with that deep voice of his made everything in Changbin’s mind shut down all at once and cause him to miss his shot horribly. He hadn’t ever heard Felix sound like  _ that _ .

  
  


**Changbin**

@spearb

I’m going to scream.

  
  


**Changbin**

@spearb

Wait, what’s this about having to only play one game?

**Chan** @cbang

Too late now 🤷♂️ You’ll have to drink more if you lose now

  
  


**Minho**

@meowho

🤦♂️

  
  


“Changbin, you’re seriously ready for us to drink because you’re simping so hard?”

“N-no, time out,” Changbin called with his arms in a T-shape, already moving away from their game to run to his room. Hyunjin didn’t wait until he was back to start making cups. Felix watched him go with a smirk. He had specifically chosen Hyunjin as his partner just for the fact that he knew this was his game.

“Changbin! Get back here! I’m not drinking all of these!”

Jisung was laughing hysterically, smacking Felix’s arms as he did so. “ _ That was good, Lix! He missed so bad _ .”

On Hyunjin’s fourth straight shot, Minho saw the ball spin around the rim. He didn’t waste a single second in flicking it out to save his team; wherever his partner ran off to, from drinking four drinks. With a smirk he caught the ball in the air and held it between his fingers.

“Ah hyung, no!” Hyunjin whined. “I was on a roll.”

Jeongin glanced up to Chan with a confused expression and asked, “you can flick it out?”

“If it’s spinning like that you can. So now it’s his turn.”

Changbin came back as Minho was setting their three cups to the side. He had his AirPods in so that Felix couldn’t play any more dirty tricks on him with his voice. Minho just stared at him with a deadpan expression, handing him two of the three cups.

“You’re ridiculous, you know that?” He mouthed in an annunciated manner so he could read his lips since Changbin couldn’t hear him.

“TWO FOR ME?” Changbin asked loudly, not being able to hear himself talk.

Minho looked at the two cups before deciding on pouring them together into one. “No, just one. Now drink up,” he instructed before taking his own and throwing it back in effort to swallow all of it without tasting the alcohol. He set the empty cup down with a small grimace on his face. He couldn’t keep letting himself drink.

Changbin was suddenly feeling a lot better with the way he was dancing with his music playing and drinking the contents of his cup. Minho watched his partner for a second before lightly guiding him to stand behind him so he would be less of a distraction to him. He looked back to the two in front of him and raised a finger.

“No more cheap shots,” he declared before tilting his hand back and having his turn. He managed to get two in and tried for getting another two out by bouncing. However, Hyunjin had other plans and slapped it away before it landed in any cup.

“I thought you just said no cheap tricks, hyung?” Hyunjin snickered, handing the ball to Felix to have a turn.

“Don’t worry about him, he and Changsimp won’t win,” Jisung commented as he moved behind Hyunjin and lazily hugged his arms around the taller’s shoulders. If Felix wasn’t bad enough with the sudden spike in confidence, Jisung wasn’t helping the fire die down at all with his trash talking.

The game continued to quickly pass by until only two cups remained for Felix and Hyunjin. They never bothered with rearranging them for the sole purpose of wanting an island shot. It was on Hyunjin’s turn and his opponents were staring daggers at him. They couldn’t believe how quickly he was finishing the game.

“Don’t do it, Hyunjin,” Changbin warned.

Raising the ball up, Hyunjin shone a toothy smirk before calling, “island, closest to you,” and flawlessly sinking the ball straight down into the designated cup. Just then both Jisung and Felix cheered and simultaneously picked Hyunjin up, carrying him all around the room as if they were in a parade.

With their heads bowed, both Changbin and Minho huffed in defeat. They admit that even though they played themselves with drinking more than they had meant to, the game was still fun for them. Changbin pulled the AirPods out of his ears, the sound of his music instantly being replaced by everyone cheering for Hyunjin. He threw an arm around Minho’s shoulders and pulled him close, petting his hair. 

“Sorry, hyung,” he apologized softly.

“It’s alright,” Minho assured before taking up their punishment drinks and offering one to Changbin. “Will a love shot make you feel better?”

Changbin’s eyes twinkled at the offer. “You’ll do it with me?”

He was already pulling his arm back from Minho’s shoulders so that he could entwine the two of theirs. They brought their cups up to their mouth and tilted them back until the drinks were all gone. Just by the simple act, Changbin’s spirits had been lifted. Minho looked in the direction of where their friends were gathered when  _ Shots _ started playing loudly on the speakers.

Jeongin and Chan had orchestrated Jisung and Felix to start a conga line with their drinks. They only made it a few beats before they broke off and started dancing in their own way to the song.

“Felix!” Jisung shouted over the music. “Body shots!”

“Body shots?!” Felix shouted back, seemingly agreeing to the idea.

At the same time Changbin and Minho both picked their heads up and looked at each other then back in the direction of their boyfriends. It was then that they realized just how much they had drunk this entire time. They telepathically decided that they needed to be cut off before they would get to any extremes; this being anything including someone losing clothes in front of everyone.

“Ooookay, Jisung. I can tell that you’re reaching the limit.” Minho began to gently pull the obviously drunken boy off to the side while Changbin tried to collect his own boy. It was a bit of a more challenging task than it was supposed to be with the way Minho had also been drinking. It wasn’t nearly as much of Jisung’s intake on it, but it was still enough to put a damper on the control of his mind and body.

“Ah, what is it?” Jisung unsteadily shuffled back a step, nearly tripping in the process. Even though he was long past the sober stage, he still knew Minho was trying to get him to leave; something he wasn’t so fond of at the moment. “I’m having fun with everyone.”

Minho sighed and tried to think of a way to lure him out. He knew by morning the boy would be sick and most likely unable to get up. He couldn’t let him continue drinking at the rate he had been all night. He flicked his eyes over to Changbin who seemed to have already succeeded in getting Felix to put down his drink. He wondered how he had done it so easily. He bit the corner of the inside of his lip before leaning next to his ear and whispering, “come have fun with me instead.”

It was the best he could come up with on a whim after his own drinking session. Having to drink more than he had intended to was really starting to mess with him. Maybe if he were actually sober himself he would have been able to come up with something better that didn’t ask for trouble. Eyes widening and narrowing again, Jisung cocked his head as he watched him curiously, trying to decipher whether or not he was bluffing. From there he was easily led out of the house and into a taxi. There was no way Minho was even going to try and let him walk the entire distance back in his drunken state.

  
  


Just like a lost puppy, Jisung closely followed Minho all the way to his dorm. The dorm owner opened the door and let them both in, closing it behind them afterwards. The lock had just moved into place when Minho felt Jisung’s hands on him.

He turned, but Jisung had already started backing him up until he was pressed up against the hard surface belonging to the door. The younger was emitting an entirely different aura than usual. His once shy and reserved energy had been completely replaced with confidence and desire. It was a new side of him that Minho had never seen before. He had tried to imagine it before, but he never pictured him to be this dominating.

“Jisung…?” Minho voiced out in the minut space between their faces. The scent of alcohol was so strong on the younger’s breath, he thought he might become even more intoxicated than he already was just by inhaling it.

“Yes baby?” Jisung purred out, his hands slowly sliding lower against his back until they rested on Minho’s [flat] ass.

Whatever Minho was going to say next was wiped clean from his mind at the first feeling of Jisung kissing his jawline. It was hardly there. He knew that this was just teasing. Minho would never forgive alcohol for giving his boyfriend this overwhelming amount of confidence and cockiness. The elder was kept into place against the door by one of Jisung’s legs pressed in between his own and Jisung’s knee bearing against the door. The pressure was enough to send a wave of electricity and heat through Minho’s body.

“You’re suddenly quiet,” Jisung smirked through painting delicate kisses everywhere from the corner of Minho’s mouth to the soft spot in front of his ear, and all the way back down to his neck. “This is surprising coming from you. Besides, weren’t you the one telling me to come play with you?”

His voice was soft and silvery as he spoke. It made Minho replace the low morning voice with this as number one on ways he likes hearing Jisung speak. With that sound and the way Jisung was observing him behind his long lashes, Minho knew he was done for. Nothing could take Jisung down in this state.

“All it takes to bring down the great Lee Minho is by something so simple,” Jisung chuckled lightly, his breath tickling the skin on the side of Minho’s neck. “Who knew?”

The back of Minho’s head bumped against the door at the first nibble against his exposed collar bone. His Adam’s Apple bobbed in his throat as he swallowed hard. He knew Jisung had been feeling more confident through all his drinking, but he didn’t expect this. Even if he did, there was nothing he could have done to prepare himself for the actual thing.

Without Minho realizing, Jisung had already slid off their jackets, forsaking them on the floor around their feet. Jisung hated the way that it was so much harder to rid the older of his shirt. In his drunken state he just couldn’t figure out how to slide it off of him in this position so he ended up giving up for the time being and going back to letting his hands wander.

“I’m going to make you eat all of those words,” Minho croaked out, slowly regaining his composure and taking back over. Pushing himself away from the door now, he slid a hand under Jisung’s chin and tilted it upwards so that he was looking into his eyes. Even in the dim lighting of the room, Minho could still very well see the lust swirling around in Jisung’s eyes. It was staring straight back at him.

He was surprised with just how easy it was to pick Jisung up by the back of his thighs and carry him to his room. He guessed that with being so small also came with being light. Tossing him on the bed and crawling on top of him only made something snap in Jisung.

The sight of Minho’s shirt hanging around his torso made Jisung grin deviously. “Thank you baby for making this easier for me to do.”

In one swift motion, Jisung grabbed the end of Minho’s shirt and slid it straight off of his body. Caught at his own neck from Minho’s hands being pinned at either side of him, he paused in his movements. It was clear that he hadn’t thought that through at all. Noticing this, Minho smirked and slowly rolled his wrists to wrap the ends of his shirt around his fingers, causing the fabric to tighten down against Jisung’s throat just enough to make breathing slightly uncomfortable. 

Jisung swallowed hard but made no moves to fight against the force. Actually, he angled his head back just a hair more. The expression he gave to the older only invited him and encouraged him. One at a time Minho picked up his hands and slung the discarded shirt to the floor. There was no point in him keeping it there any longer like this, he thought.

Jisung brought his hands up and caressed the smooth and now exposed skin on Minho’s chest. The skin on Jisung’s palms were soft. They slid around easily on Minho’s tight skin. It was clear that Minho wasn’t expecting this kind of energy from him from the way that he looked down at him wildly. The Jisung he knew had always shied away from his body. Even with his clinginess, he had never managed to actually get anywhere like this. But this was no longer Jisung. This was someone he hadn’t quite met before. Minho couldn’t have this. He couldn’t let this Jisung keep having the upper hand on him. If they were going to play fair, then Minho was going to have to up his game and let the lingering intoxication take full effect on him rather than try to fight it.

“Too bad you probably won’t remember any of this come morning,” he tsked before lowering himself down and drawing Jisung into a deep kiss.

* * *

  
  
  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ｡ﾟ(ﾟ´ω`ﾟ)ﾟ｡ Please let me know what you think of anything. If I did a bad job with the ending or any thoughts regarding anything else. I tried to make this chapter as interesting and enjoyable as possible. The end of this story is near. ❤︎ See you next Monday~


	36. Chapter 36

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome back~ Here we have the dreadful day of hangovers for our lovely little squirrel boy. Enjoy ☆〜（ゝ。∂）

* * *

**Felix**

@fabulix

WHO PUNCHED HYUNG IN THE NECK 😡

**Chan** @cbang

👀?

  
  


**Chan**

@cbang

Oh, Felix, no… 😭

  
  


**Jeongin**

@notyouroppa

I got a notif saying Felix tweeted but I see nothing?

**Changbin** @spearb

That’s so weird 🤨 Maybe it was a glitch, I don’t see anything either

  
  


**Hyunjin**

@hwangjin

💀

**Seungmin** @songmin

At least it’s scarf season

  
  
  


( I’m going to ask this as cautiously as possible )

  
  


**Best Bin 🐽🐰**

( Please don’t )

  
  


( Okay 💀 )

( I should have helped you clean up a little before I left. I’m sorry about that. )

  
  


**Best Bin** 🐽🐰

( No, no, don’t worry about it. The others were good about handling it. They all stayed overnight )

( what about you, hyung? )

  
  


( 😅 )

  
  


**Best Bin 🐽🐰**

( I’m counting ourselves lucky that we survived )

( I didn’t expect this from them )

  
  


( Them? )

( I could see Felix acting the way he did, but not Jisung. He’s always been too much of a uh… )

( he’s always been all talk and no action. So this was a huge surprise )

( But why are you suddenly acting shy?? This wasn’t your first rodeo )

  
  


**Best Bin 🐽🐰**

( Even I have never seen Jisung get to that level )

( And about that 😓 It’s always been hush hush. Only you and hyung know anything prior to this )

( Plus it’s only ever been casual 👉👈 and that… well I digress )

( 💀 I wasn’t fast enough to delete the tweet )

  
  


( At least Felix is good at make-up so he can cover you up 😉 )

( Feel better. I’m going to see where the hell Jisung went off to )

  
  


**Best Bin** 🐽🐰

( He’s missing?? )

  
  


( I’m pretty sure I know where he is )

  
  


Minho had woken up with the space beside him in his bed being empty. He worried that the younger had sleepwalked someplace again, but figured that there would have been no way he would have been able to go anywhere after last night. The poor bastard had drunk far too much to be able to do anything involving unlocking doors. In the end he deduced that he still had to be in the dorm somewhere.

Throwing the blanket off of him and messily onto the bed, Minho got up and headed out of his room. He didn’t have to go very far before he found Jisung laying in his underwear against the tile of his bathroom floor. Minho could have sworn the younger had put his clothes back on at some point last night. He must have overheated again and got sick. With the door being cracked open just slightly, he couldn’t tell if the boy was awake or not.

Without making any noise, Minho passed by the bathroom as a whole in favor of going into his kitchen. There he pulled out two water bottles, going ahead and opening one of them for himself and downing it in no time. It hadn’t occurred to him until just now of how thirsty he had been. That’s when he remembered that he didn’t drink very lightly either. He counted himself lucky for only suffering a mild headache and some soreness in his body; though the latter was not directly from alcohol. Throwing the now empty bottle away, he took the full one with him back to the bathroom.

The door opened silently as he pushed through it. Carefully he stepped over Jisung’s sleeping body to stand in front of the mirror and observe his state. His dark hair was a mess around his head, but that was an easy fix with a few movements of his fingers through it. His hand hesitated at his shirt collar before he finally tugged it down past his collarbone. A light scoff left him when he noticed the mixture of light and dark markings on his skin. He was thankful that they were at least all low enough to hide with just his t-shirt.

Backing up just a bit, he lifted the bottom of his shirt up to his chest level. As he turned every which way, he could see more markings dotted on his skin. His poked at a dark spot on his hip with a crescent moon shaped indention beside it, wincing at the contact. He couldn’t tell if it had gotten bruised or not. There was no telling anymore.

“You fucking animal,” he muttered down at Jisung. The memories were still so vivid to him as he hadn’t had nearly enough to drink to block it all out. Even now he couldn’t believe that Jisung had been so bold. Him laying on the floor so lifelessly only added to his bewilderment. It was hard to believe that this was the same person that had been all over him last night.

He crouched down in front of Jisung, eyes washing over his body silently for a moment. While he was laying halfway on his side, halfway on his stomach, Minho could clearly see matching markings on his skin as well. They were even more noticeable at the time since Jisung was currently on the paler side of the spectrum. It reminded him of a dalmatian puppy who was just getting their spots in. Suddenly he became a lot more cuter in that comparison.

Reaching out, Minho rested a hand on Jisung’s forehead and slid his hand down until he was caressing his cheek. Heat was radiating off of him in a bit of a feverish way. He knew it was just the sitting effects of all of the drinks the boy had.

He couldn’t help but to notice just how good his boyfriend’s body actually looked now that he could see the full thing under direct light. All of his hoodies had thrown any ideas of his chest and core being so beautifully sculpted straight out of the window. Even though he hadn’t seen it before last night, Minho knew the boy was fit all over just from their cuddling sessions. But seeing was believing and he was in love with every bit of it.

“Hey, Jisung,” Minho called out lightly as he tapped his shoulder. Out of fear of making him nauseous, he refrained from shaking him awake. He needed to wake him up as cautiously as possible if he were ever going to start nursing him back to health.

It took a few tries, but eventually Jisung finally woke up to the tapping on his skin. He blinked tiredly, trying to focus his eyes on his surroundings. His eyes squinted back shut from the harshness of the bathroom light overhead. Minho knew he was fully awake when he put his hands to his forehead in agony.

“Oh fuck… my head feels like it’s being crushed,” Jisung gritted out with tightly shut eyes.

Offering the water bottle to Jisung, Minho instructed, “drink this and all of it at that. You’re really dehydrated.”

Jisung shook his head as minusculely as possible. It hurt to move even an inch. “There’s no way I’m getting up. I feel like I’ve been hit by a truck and thrown off a cliff.”

Only a few seconds had passed since he said that and he was already jolting himself into a seated position. Immediately he regretted that decision when he threw a hand to his mouth, trying his best to keep anything from coming up.

“I swear to god if you throw up on me I’m breaking up with you,” Minho warned with a glare.

Jisung kept still with his eyes closed until he knew he wouldn’t do anything. Thankfully he had been able to force it back down this time. Slowly he took his hand away and placed it beside his other in front of him on the tile flooring. He was seated exactly like some anime girl in a cliche hentai as he looked down on himself. He didn’t miss the way there were markings scattered across his skin. It would have been impossible to. But what his main concern was, was where the hell his clothes went and why was he lying in Minho’s bathroom with just his underwear.

“Where the fuck did my clothes go?” Jisung asked, suddenly flustered. He moved into a. crisscrossed position with his hands in his lap as if that were going to take away from the fact that the boy in front of him had already seen everything. Suddenly he was glaring at Minho accusingly. “What did you do?”

“ _Me?_ ” Minho repeated with disbelief. He shook his head with a laugh. So the games were already starting. “ _You._ This was _you_ ,” he gestured to the lack of clothing with a bobbing finger. “You seriously don’t remember a thing you did last night, do you?”

Suddenly Jisung’s face filled with fear. No, he couldn’t remember a single thing last night. The last clear memory was arriving at Changbin’s house with Felix. There was a faint memory of Jeongin being present too. Everything that came afterwards was wiped clean from his memory.

Lowering his face down again and closing his eyes, Jisung held his head with his hair twisted in his fingers. His head was pounding all around his skull. It pulsated harshly in his ears. Right now all Jisung wanted to do was lay back down on the cool tile and not move for the rest of the day. He couldn’t even bother with arguing at the moment.

  
  


( Hyung )

( Lend me some advice )

  
  


**Hyung 😸**

( Don’t let your boyfriend drink so much )

  
  


( I saw you encouraging him 😑 )

( Changbin saw you encouraging them )

  
  


**Hyung 😸**

( You caught me 😙 Be honest, it was really interesting to watch )

  
  


( Hyung 😓 )

  
  


**Hyung 😸**

( Okay, okay. First thing’s first. Get him some water and make him take a cold shower. His body is probably hot right now so the best thing to do is to cool it down )

( For the water I suggest adding lemon juice and ginger to it. It’s better if it’s warm. Not hot, but enough to make everything distribute easier )

( He’s most likely not going to want to eat anything, but make him eat something small and dry anyways. Starch or some sort of bread. Something dry to absorb what’s in his stomach before he gets the chance to puke it out. If he hasn’t already. )

( Once all of that is done, let him lay down for awhile. After all that he did, he really needs the rest. )

( Whenever he’s feeling better, get him outside. Even just a small walk will help everything to metabolize and begin to restart his system. Once he’s feeling up to it, get him high protein food. )

  
  


( ☺️ Thanks hyung )

**Hyung 😸**

( So how bad was it when you finally got him to go with you )

( Everyone knows you guys didn’t just go home and go to sleep 😏 )

  
  


( … we do not speak )

  
  


**Hyung** 😸

( Changbin has been locked in his room all morning; save for a few quick trips to the kitchen )

( He even deleted Felix’s post because he’s so bashful 😂 )

  
  


( Felix is probably feeling the same way when he figured out no one punched Changbin )

  
  


**Hyung** 😸

( Did Jisung also think someone punched you? )

  
  


( I think I might punch you )

  
  
  


**Chan**

@cbang

It’s just too easy 😋

  
  


Once Minho finally convinced Jisung to take a shower, he began preparing all of the things Chan had told him to. He set some baggy clothes down on the bathroom counter for him to wear whenever he got out. He figured with the way Jisung had discarded his clothes when he found him, he wouldn’t want to be in anything tight-fitting.

Knowing that Jisung would most likely want to sit in the shower for an eternity, he gave himself plenty of time to get the rest ready. First he made the lemon ginger water and set it on a very low heat on the stove so it would be nice and warm. He made sure to try it first to be sure the taste wasn’t horrible. From there he rummaged through his small pantry until he found a bag of pretzels. Everything was now lying in wait for the hungover boy to claim them.

“Jisung,” Minho called from behind the closed bathroom door. Half an hour had passed and he still had yet to come out. “Are you okay?”

It was just about the stupidest question Jisung had ever heard and Minho realized this in the silence. Of course he wasn’t okay. If he was, he wouldn’t have had to do any of this.

Finally Jisung spoke from the other side. “You’re going to need a new toothbrush…”

Minho rested his forehead against the door, sighing. _This is fin_ e, he thought. He nearly fell through the door when Jisung finally opened it.

“I’m sorry, I had to get the taste out of my mouth,” Jisung apologized with a sorrowful look to match it. He looked as if he had hit rock bottom. There was none of his usual volume in his voice nor was there that animated sparkle in his eyes. All Minho could see was a dark rain cloud looming over his head and it made him embrace Jisung in a soft hug.

“Did you get sick?”

Jisung nodded his head slowly with downcasted eyes in lieu of an answer.

With the way that he was dressed so cutely in Minho’s clothes looking so upset over something so trivial, there was no way that Minho could be mad at him for anything. He simply took a hold of his hand and led him to the couch to sit.

“It’s okay, I have more. Stay right here,” he instructed before heading into the kitchen. He poured the warm lemon ginger water into a glass and grabbed the bag of pretzels before settling himself down beside the younger.

“Drink,” he said plainly, pushing the glass into his hands before he could reject it. “It will help you feel better.”

Jisung looked between him and the glass before obediently bringing it up to his lips. He closed his eyes as he slowly drank it, making it a third of the way down before he stopped. Lowering it back down, he watched his reflection in the glass. He still couldn’t recall a single thing from last night and it was driving him crazy.

“Hyung-“

“Finish it first,” Minho cut him off. “Slowly.”

Frowning slightly, Jisung tilted the glass back once again. This time he was able to finish it, but brought the back of his hand to his mouth right afterwards. Minho watched him closely, scared that he might get sick again. The glass was taken from his hand and set on the coffee table in front of him.

Swallowing, Jisung let out a small, “I’m fine,” and reached for the bag of pretzels. “Make me a deal,” he requested as he opened them. “For every two I eat, you tell me one thing.”

Liking the idea, Minho nodded and positioned himself against the arm of the couch until he was comfortable. Patiently he waited for Jisung to complete his end of the deal. First he ate half of one pretzel then the other. Once the second was gone, Minho started with, “I like cats.”

“That’s not what I meant and you know it,” Jisung glared at him, clearly not amused by his games.

“You didn’t specify,” Minho shrugged simply. There was zero sympathy in having tricked him. “Two more and I’ll answer your questions.”

Sometimes Jisung hated the way Minho could be so mischievously clever in these situations. Still, he huffed and did as he was told. It took him a few nibbles, but he managed just the same.

“How did I end up here? Or really, why?”

“That’s two questions,” Minho pointed out but gave in when Jisung lightly kicked him.

“Fine, you were starting to get to be too much. Changbin and I started dragging you two away when you started suggesting body shots with Felix,” he explained. “I didn’t need you stripping in front of everyone and I knew it would be easier to take care of you here.”

  
  


**Jisung**

@hansome

Felix??

**Felix** @fabulix

Not here, try again later

  
  


Not believing what he heard, Jisung sat there with a dumbfounded look on his face. Minho had to be lying, he decided. He’s never even taken a body shot before. He opened his mouth to say something, but Minho pointed to the pretzels, telling him he wouldn’t get anything else until he ate more.

“I honestly don’t remember a thing, but you expect me to believe I was trying to do body shots?”

“You and Felix were drinking everyone under the table. You two got so drunk that you both turned into completely different people. Felix had Changbin _shaking_. I’ve seen Changbin whipped before, but never that bad.”

He and Felix had turned into two different people? He knew that drinking always gave him more confidence in himself, but he couldn’t imagine needing to be taken home because of how he was acting. Two more pretzels. Jisung seemed hesitant with his next question.

“So then… What about all of these bruises and other accessories on me? When was that?”

“I told you, that was because of you,” Minho reminded before stopping himself. No, that wasn’t right. He had to be completely honest here. “Well… actually, I kind of provoked you,” he mumbled, shyly rubbing at the back of his neck with his eyes focused away from the boy.

In hindsight, he knew he shouldn’t have said what he did. He knew that Jisung was blackout drunk and that he wasn’t himself at the time. It was purely the alcohol talking. Even though he himself had also been drinking, he was still very conscious of his actions. It was his duty to keep Jisung safe, but instead he had messed around and fell into the trap. All in all, he felt like he had failed.

Jisung shoved a handful of pretzels into his mouth just so he wouldn’t have to keep stopping and eating more. It didn’t sit very well with him, but he forced it down anyways.

“What?”

Sighing, Minho swiped a hand through his hair to try and recollect himself before he continued. “You didn’t want to leave, you said you were having fun with your friends,” he started, feeling heat rise up in his face at the remembrance of it all. “So I… suggested playing with me instead…”

Just like a statue, Jisung froze in front of him. He couldn’t let himself think about where this story was heading, but with the clear evidence, he already had a pretty good guess.

“I’m sorry,” Minho apologized with his head bowed. “I shouldn’t have said that at the time. I only said it to get you to stop drinking and to come here with me. I didn’t expect you to actually do anything.”

“Wait- why do you keep saying me, what the fuck did I even do?”

“Me.”

  
  


**Jisung**

@hansome

I’m dating a liar.

**Felix** @fabulix

I am too

  
  


**Hyunjin**

@hwangjin

I kind of pity them 🙁

**Seungmin** @songmin

Denial is the first stage

  
  


Jisung’s mouth hung open at his words. There was no chance he believed that he did what Minho said. He didn’t have it in him. He had never done that before. He was too shy to actually ever try. Shaking his head, he denied it again.

Minho grabbed the neck of his shirt and yanked it down until Jisung could see what he did to him. “I didn’t do this myself. This was only the beginning,” he claimed, using his thumb to also expose the dark purple color on his hip. “You bit the shit out of me, Jisung,”

“I…” Jisung was trying to get his words out, but didn’t seem like he could think of the right ones to say. To say the least, he was in shock. If someone would have come from the future to tell his past self what last night would consist of, he would laugh in their face and probably get highly embarrassed.

Before seeing the proof on Minho, Jisung really didn’t believe him. Even now he still found it difficult to. He knew himself better than anyone, but never in his entire life had he let himself act so promiscuously. His introvertness ran too deep. Could he see the kissing and biting happening? Sure. Everything else was so foreign to him. But now how could he still deny it? No one else could have done that to Minho. Jisung would have attacked them at the first chance whether he was sober or not.

He didn’t know what to do. His body was still killing him but there was a new feeling in his gut now. Carefully he reached out and held onto Minho’s hands. “I’m sorry,” he apologized to Minho’s surprise. The older hadn’t expected that to come out of his mouth. “I know I shocked you with the way I acted. I did a poor job controlling myself it seems. I’m not sure what else I did, but… that, I can’t believe I did that. I’m sorry I bit you. That looks like it really hurt.”

Lowering his head, he kept his gaze on their hands. For whatever reason, he felt bad for causing such a situation. He knew Minho had just been trying to help him out. He kicked himself from last night for acting the way he did.

“Why are you sorry? I never said I hated it. It was just… I wish I could have prepared myself a little bit better,” Minho admitted with a light blush splashed across his cheeks. “Besides, I’m the one that’s sorry. I was supposed to take care of you.”

A faint smile appeared on Jisung’s face as he set the bag of pretzels down on the coffee table beside the empty cup. Carefully and without moving too quickly, Jisung crawled over to Minho and lowered himself down in his lap. Body between Minho’s legs and head nuzzled against the other’s stomach, Jisung let out a small exhale and closed his eyes.

“You _do_ take care of me, though. You brought me here and you made me a nice drink and forced me to eat even though I didn’t want to. You let me borrow these clothes after making me take a cold shower. Don’t feel bad because you didn’t prevent me from getting like this. I’m not all your responsibility. I’m my own person.”

Minho gently combed his fingers through Jisung’s hair as he watched him lovingly. He couldn’t express how happy those words made him but he hoped that Jisung had a clue. He really could be precious sometimes.

“Tell me more about last night.”

“Are you sure you want to know? I don’t think you’ll like it. Or maybe you will but you’ll become embarrassed like usual.”

Jisung nodded once. “Yeah, I think I need to.”

  
  


( Felix… )

( I’m really sorry I dragged you into this )

( Are you okay? )

  
  


**Lix**

( What’s there to be sorry about? We had fun didn’t we? )

  
  


( 😭 )

( How can you say that when we can’t even remember? )

  
  


**Lix**

( I believe we had fun ☺️ )

( At least it’s seemed that way from the videos Chan hyung sent me )

( Besides, you’re being taken care of right now, aren’t you? )

( What more could you ask for? You would die of embarrassment if you actually remembered anything )

  
  


( You’re right… )

( But still. Our first time? And we don’t remember? )

  
  


**Lix**

( We? Minho hyung doesn’t remember either? )

  
  


( What? No, he does. I meant us )

  
  


**Lix**

( o-oh 😳 )

( uh… actually, about that… )

  
  


( ? )

  
  


**Lix**

( Nothing 😊 I’m going back to sleep. )

( My head is killing me )

  
  


( Feel better, Lixie 🥺 )

  
  
  


After having stayed awake for so long while talking about everything from last night, Jisung could have sworn that he would be over getting sick. The two of them had been in the middle of discussing what exactly went on at the party when all of the sudden the hungover boy threw himself from the couch and rushed to the open bathroom. He specifically left the door wide open just in case he needed to get in quickly.

Barely managing to get in there on time, Jisung sat pathetically in front of the toilet with his head laying on the seat. He reached a weak hand up to flush it. It took him a few tries but he eventually managed his task. At the sound of it draining, he let his hand fall back limply to his side while the other loosely hugged his cramping stomach.

Minho trailed in behind him soon after with some more water. Setting it down on the counter, he grabbed a washcloth and ran some cold water over it, wringing the excess out afterwards. With the water and washcloth in hand, Minho sat down beside the other. Tenderly he brushed Jisung’s hair back so that he could dab the cool washcloth to his forehead and the rest of his face.

“You’re still not feeling any better? You might have eaten too quickly.”

Jisung moaned out a small “no” in response. Picking up the water, he brought it to his mouth and tried his best to finish the entire thing. Minho kept most of the cup’s weight in his own hand so that Jisung wouldn’t drop it. Despite him feeling so parched, it proved to be a real challenge to make himself drink anything. He felt as if his body might reject anything at this point.

“Minho… baby… never again… don’t ever let me do this to myself again,” he pleaded in a feeble voice as he set the water down. It was breaking Minho’s heart to see him in this state. He wished that he could just go back to the way he were the night prior. “I don’t care what I say at the time. Knock me out if you have to.”

Minho nodded in agreement, rubbing Jisung’s back comfortingly. “I’m so sorry,” he apologized. “I should have stopped you sooner. But now I know your limits better.”

Jisung lowered himself back down on the tile with his head in Minho’s lap. He didn’t trust himself to move out of the bathroom right now. This way it would just be easier for him. His eyes fell closed once more. Although the memories were wiped clean from his mind, he tried his absolute best to remember anything from last night. Anything at all. It irked him that he was the only one oblivious to this entire thing.

  
  


**Minho**

@meowho

It can’t be remembered so easily

**Chan** @cbang

Not unless you jog it for them 🤭

**Changbin** @spearb

I didn’t expect an innuendo from hyung 😶 Someone has corrupted him

**Minho** @meowho

@spearb I blame you

**Changbin** @spearb

I’m innocent??

**Chan** @cbang

@spearb now that’s a lie 😒

  
  


After a moment of coaxing, Jisung finally agreed to leave the bathroom and head back to the couch so he could get some more sleep. He had tossed his phone to the floor and snuggled closer into Minho’s body shape. With Minho being beneath him on the couch, he was putting him in a very dangerous situation. But after Jisung begging to let him use him as a bed, claiming that he would sleep better, Minho gave up arguing.

It wasn’t a bad position Minho had been put in. He didn’t mind the weight on him. Actually, Jisung’s body was at the perfect height for him to comfortably lay his arms across and watch videos on his phone. Jisung’s head also served as a small cushion for Minho to rest his cheek or chin on. In all actuality, it was a good trade off for becoming a bed.

After quite some time of Jisung being asleep on him, Minho found himself also feeling drowsy and slipping into slumber. He had somehow forgotten all about the way Jisung could sleep an entire day away if that was what he so wished to do. And with him feeling so terrible, it was a likely thing.

  
  


The next day did in fact come into existence before Jisung ever got to pulling himself from his dreams. Foggy pieces of memories of coming back late from the party danced around as he dreamt, though he couldn’t be sure if they had been true or not. While his brain was questioning the authenticity of them, his body still remembered.

He woke up with his body breaking out in a sweat. Breathing unevenly, he looked all around the room with his eyes. The recollection of being in Minho’s room hadn’t stayed with him. It only came back to him after sitting up and rubbing at his head. Slowly he looked down to the borrowed clothes he was wearing and looked down the shirt then to his thighs.

The remembrance of his dreams caused him to shudder. So they had been true after all. Every spot he had felt Minho put his hands and mouth on, there was surely evidence left behind.

“Oh, you’re finally awake,” Minho noticed as he reentered the room after exiting the bathroom. He had slipped out from under Jisung at some point so that he could take a shower. Not having expected the younger to be awake already, Minho hadn’t bothered with taking clothes with him into the bathroom. Instead, he merely had a towel wrapped around his slim waist.

If Jisung thought the dreams were bad enough as they were, he wasn’t ready to be sent into a flashback of the events once more. Water droplets sat and rolled along the toned muscles of Minho’s body. They caused all of the purple and dark red spots on him to glisten under the light of the room. And with the way that the boy’s dark hair was slicked back on his head, Jisung was shifting between utter embarrassment and understanding why exactly he became so feral.

Finally, Jisung decided on just hiding his face in his hands to block his view. This earned a chuckle from the other as he approached him. The sound of approaching footsteps resounded in Jisung’s ears, making him take up a throw pillow and hide behind it.

“N-no! Stay away!”

Without trying to take away the defense shield, Minho pressed the back of his hand against Jisung’s cheek. “You’re still hot. Did all of that sleep not make you feel any better?”

“I don’t feel like I need to puke my guts out anymore,” Jisung responded. “But I’m hot now for a different reason. _Two_ different reasons!”

Sleeping for so long really did make the dreadful hangover effects go away, but with dreams came new problems. And with Minho’s sudden half naked appearance came strengthened said problems.

“I… had some dreams…” Jisung mumbled, not really trying to have his words sound coherent. “I remembered,” he added even quieter.

“What?” Minho asked, leaning in closer. “I can’t hear you when you’re muttering like that.”

Out of frustration, Jisung brought the pillow up and smacked Minho in the side with it. He didn’t appreciate the way his waist was so damn slim anyways. “I _said_ , I remembered,” he huffed loudly.

Minho caught the pillow before it could hit him a second time. Holding it still in his hand, he looked at his abuser with wide eyes. “You do? How?”

“Well, not _all_ of it. It was just very little parts I dreamt about but I knew they were real since the data matches up.”

Minho found the complete refusal of Jisung looking in his direction so cute. There was a faint pink shade spreading across his face like wildfire. It was enough to make him spit out a small laugh. Reaching out, he squished one of Jisung’s cheeks gently in between his thumb and index finger.

“We already talked about it before, so why are you suddenly even more flustered about it? Gosh, you’re so cute.”

Jisung swatted his hand away, pouting profusely. It however only made Minho want to pinch his cheeks some more.

“It’s just because now I actually _saw_ it. This wasn’t just me trying to imagine it anymore.”

“Oh, you tried to imagine it? I could have helped you with that one if you-“

Jisung sent a quick kick to the side of Minho’s leg, causing him to hop a step back while laughing.

“I’m just kidding, calm down,” he said even though Jisung was sure he would actually act on it just the same. Sighing, he folded his arms comfortably at his waist as he observed his boyfriend’s state. “Are you feeling well enough to leave? There’s somewhere I want to go.”

Jisung deflated visibly at those words, face falling into a somber frown. Looking down, he played with a loose thread sticking out from the seam of his pants. He guessed that he _had_ been taking up too much of Minho’s time by now.

“I guess I could go if you really wanted me too…”

“What?” Minho blinked, confused by his sudden depression. “Jisung, no. I meant together,” he elaborated in an apologetic way. He hadn’t meant to come off as cold and wanting to shoo him away. “There’s somewhere I want to take you to. I think it will make you feel better.”

Instantly Jisung perked back up. His eyes began twinkling again. “Really? Where to?”

“It’s a surprise,” Minho winked before disappearing into his room to get dressed.

  
  


**Jisung**

@hansome

I like surprises 😃

**Jeongin** @notyouroppa

This is a very ominous tweet coming from you

  
  


Not bothering with sending Jisung to his own room to get some clothes that he wouldn’t be cold in, Minho settled for dressing him up in his own attire. The younger had been so paranoid about someone seeing the love bite left on the base of his neck so Minho carefully wrapped a scarf around him. Fixing it snugly around his neck, Minho tilted his head as he marveled at him.

“Better?”

Jisung could only smile warmly at him and kiss his cheek. It was obvious from the way he sat so still and let the older take control of his limbs that he was enjoying being dressed up; especially it being clothes belonging to Minho. If he had anything to say about it, he didn’t want to give them back after this.

“Come on, cutie,” Minho cooed, ushering him out the door.

A short bus ride and a drawn out session of Jisung trying to get hints from the other later, Minho stopped them in front of someone’s front door. Looking all around, Jisung’s couldn’t figure out just what it was they were doing here or who lived here. He didn’t know anyone that lived in this area. Giving up, Jisung shot Minho a curious look.

“It’s my house,” he answered to which Jisung suddenly got flustered. “Don’t worry, my parents aren’t home right now. But your surprise is inside.”

_That only makes me worry more!_ Jisung thought silently to himself. Why had Minho brought him here? And his parents weren’t home? Maybe it was just the after effects of drinking that made his mind take a sharp left turn.

Unlocking the door, Minho led the frantic boy into the main entryway. Hardly finishing taking off his shoes, Minho snapped his head in one direction and took off running.

“There’s my baby!”

Frozen in place, still not understanding, Jisung leaned over slowly to see what he was talking about. “I-I’m right here…” he clarified, pointing to himself. He couldn’t say that he’s ever heard the older sound anything like this before and that got his full attention.

Coming back into view, Jisung could clearly see a mostly ginger cat held in Minho’s arms. Suddenly the realization hit him. Minho’s face was buried in the soft orange fur of the cat as he rocked it side to side.

“Oh, you brought me to see them,” Jisung gaped with a wide smile as he reached to pet the cat’s head. “So cute~”

The cat owner instructed Jisung to follow him into his room and sit him down on the floor. Gently he set Soonie down in his lap and left to find the remaining two. One by one he set them all around Jisung. He came back with Dori as the last one and shut the door behind him so they wouldn’t escape.

Jisung was already very much occupied with teasing Soonie and Doongie with the scarf that was now loosely around his neck. The sight of him playing so contently with his cats led Minho’s heart to burst. He really was a simple person.

“You know,” Jisung suddenly piped up from where he lay playing with Soonie, the feisty creature swatting and pouncing every which way that the boy slung the wand to. “I think he takes after you. I can just tell that he rides the same wavelength as you.”

“Hm?” Minho looked down from where he was snuggling the tabby cat on his bed. “That’s weird, I was going to say he kind of reminds me of you.”

“Because we’re both so handsome?” Jisung asked haughtily

“Because he sleeps just about as much as you do,” Minho snickered, earning a small glare from the other.

“Don’t listen to him,” Jisung told the orange ball of fluff as if it could understand a word he was saying. “He’s just upset because he doesn’t get as much beauty rest as we do.”

“Ah? What was that? Did you just call me ugly?” Minho feigned hurt.

“No, gorgeous, I did not.” Jisung shook his head and put a hand to his heart with a dramatic sigh. “I strive to be as good looking as you without ever having to try.”

“Tch.” Minho sneered contently to himself. Jisung just had to be a smooth-talker when it came to these things. He glanced back over to the floor where he continued to watch Jisung roll around, letting himself get pounced on by the two orange and white cats.

  
  


**Minho**

@meowho

I need LifeAlert 🚑

**Chan** @cbang

I’m scared to ask

**Changbin** @spearb

Did you let Jisung drink again?

**Minho** @meowho

@cbang I just missed my babies 😭

**Felix** @fabulix

I’m missing the kitties? 😿

**Minho** @meowho

@fabulix come next time

  
  


**Felix**

@fabulix

Wife swap?

**Jisung** @hansome

You don’t have a wife .-.

**Felix** @fabulix

Swap*?

  
  


**Changbin**

@spearb

I’m not losing to Lee Minho 😠

  
  


**Chan**

@cbang

Alright, cool. So Changbin just left me his house 🤔

**Jisung** @hansome

Quick. Release hyung’s mixtape

**Changbin** @spearb

@hansome I don’t even have one??

**Jisung** @hansome

@spearb I find that very hard to believe

  
  
  
  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> See you next Monday~ Please feel free to leave any comments/concerns! I love reading and responding to them ❤︎


	37. Chapter 37

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wwwwwelcome back~ This chapter is on the longer side to try and fit all of the chaos in it. I hope you enjoy ☆〜（ゝ。∂）

* * *

“Are you sure you know what you’re doing?”

“Of course, the video just said to stick it in and wiggle it around until you feel something.”

Silence.

“Hey Changbin?”

“Yeah?”

“Don’t ever say that out loud again.”

“What do you mean-“

“I will punch you.”

“I’m just telling you what it told me. Damn, are you this aggressive with Jisung too?”

“Jisung doesn’t say things like that. Just be quiet and try it again, you’re not doing it right. We’re going to get caught at this rate.”

“Why don’t _you_ just do it.”

“Alright. I will. Move. Hyung will show you how it’s done.”

Something snaps.

“What the fuck- you broke it!”

“Don’t worry, I have more. I came prepared.”

“Uhm… what the hell did I just walk in on?”

It was Felix’s voice. Both Minho and Changbin jumped at the sound of it and slowly turned their heads to look at him.

“Oh, Felix. It’s not what it looks like,” Minho assured with an innocent smile.

Crossing his arms, Felix gave them a deadpan stare. There wasn’t much to misunderstand with the position they were in.

“So… you’re not trying to pick Chan hyung’s lock? Which, by the way, why are you? That’s probably the only door on the entire campus that’s always unlocked.

“Okay, so it is exactly what you think it is,” Minho admitted.

The two elders had been crouched in front of Chan’s dorm door for fifteen minutes now, trying to figure out how to sufficiently pick a lock. Despite having watched a tutorial on how to do it with two bobby pins as Jisung had done, neither of them could figure out how it worked. Minho having already broken one bobby pin was not letting them progress any further.

“Hyung wanted to learn how to do it so he could break into your and Jisung’s room to scare; and maybe impress, Jisung,” Changbin explained with a sigh of defeat. “But we can’t figure it out.”

“Ah… I could never figure it out either, but he makes it look so easy,” Felix sympathized while scratching his head in thought. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a keychain with a key and a small ceramic cat charm attached to it. Holding it out in front of Minho he offered, “you can just use my key if you want. Sungie won’t know the difference of how you got in as long as you hide it before he sees.”

Minho’s eyes lit up like Christmas lights at the sight of the key dangling in front of his face. Snatching it out of the air, he jumped up and caught Felix in a tight hug.

“You’re a lifesaver!”

Minho smiled as he released Felix from his embraced and waved to the two. “Let me know if you ever figure it out,” he said before running off towards Jisung and Felix’s dorm room.

Changbin sat with his butt on the floor and hands absentmindedly playing with the broken bobby pin. “He never hugs me like that…”

“Awe, Binnie…” Felix cooed as he crouched down beside him to wrap his arms around him. “I’ll give you all the hugs you want. They’re free of charge too.”

“At least someone loves me,” Changbin fake sniffled.

  
  


Meanwhile in front of Jisung’s dorm door, Minho was holding the keychain up in front of his face, tapping at the little cat charm hanging from it. It alone had completely distracted him from his task at hand. Closing it in a soft fist to get his mind back on track, Minho made a mental note to ask Felix where he got it from later. As quietly as possible, Minho stuck the key in the hole and slowly turned it. He didn’t know where at in the dorm Jisung would be and he didn’t want to get caught coming in.

Once the door was unlocked, he shoved the key into his pocket and cracked the door open enough to peek through. Within the first few centimeters of it opening, he could hear music coming from the bedroom. Jisung could be heard just over the music as he was singing along. This alone let Minho know he wasn’t close to the entrance so he could go in.

Locking the door back behind him, Minho crept towards the open bedroom. He could clearly see Jisung with his back towards him. The boy was singing and dancing along to some girl group as he was packing some of his things into a bag sitting on his bed. Not being able to help it, Minho stood back and watched him dance around for a minute. Even though Jisung swore up and down that he wasn’t a dancer, his moves said otherwise.

After letting himself have his fun and sneaking a short video of the moment, Minho replaced his phone back into his pocket before pouncing on the unsuspecting dancer.

“Gotcha!”

Shrieking out of surprise, Jisung grabbed whoever it was latched onto him and flung them over top of him. Minho landed harshly on his back against the floor with a loud thud. If anyone was in the room below them, they would have most definitely heard it. It was loud enough to wake the dead.

  
  


**Minho**

@meowho

Life update: I’m terrified of my boyfriend at this point

**Changbin** @spearb

Something tells me your idea didn’t go as planned

**Minho** @meowho

@spearb I think he broke my back 💀

  
  


**Felix**

@fabulix

One day my best friend will stop being an animal but I don’t think today is that day…

**Jisung** @hansome

It wasn’t like that!

  
  


Abruptly cutting off the music, Jisung dropped down to Minho’s side. “Baby! Baby! Oh my god, are you okay?” He held his hands out but took them away again in fear of touching him in this state.

Minho held the back of his head with a wince. There was no way he was going to be moving for a few minutes. “Do I look okay?”

“You _look_ hot,” Jisung answered in the most serious voice he could muster.

“Jisung-“

“I’m sorry! Why the fuck did you sneak up behind me? You know I get scared easily,” Jisung argued, smacking the arm of his already wounded boyfriend.

“Hey, hey! Stop hitting me!” Minho winced, holding his arm. “That was the point. I was _trying_ to scare you. But damn, did you really have to flip me over you like that?”

“It was a reflex! You should know this by now!”

Jisung was right. Minho _should_ have known that. Considering all of the stories he’s heard from Jeongin about how Jisung was in grade school, he should have seen a reaction like this coming. Jisung was too adapted into reacting in a violent way to people grabbing him from behind. With the way he was always literally fighting for his friends and those without any, he had to always know how to defend himself.

“You’re right…” Minho sighed out apologetically. “I’m sorry.”

Jisung’s mouth pulled into a small frown as he stroked Minho’s hair. “I’m sorry too. Did I really hurt you?”

“Yes. Somehow someone as small as you actually did a number on me.”

Jisung’s lip pouted out slightly as he lowered himself down to lie beside the other. Gently he pulled an arm around him to hug him lovingly. “I’m sorry, baby. I didn’t know it was you. You know I would never mean to actually hurt you.”

“It’s okay. Like you said, I should have seen it coming.”

“By the way,” Jisung realized. “How did you get in here?”

A smug look fell onto Minho’s face. “Oh that? I thought I might impress you if I learned how to pick locks and break in to see my boyfriend that I love so much.”

Jisung shot up into a sitting position with a surprised look. “Shut up. You did not.”

“Oh but I did, baby~ just for you.” Minho reached a hand up to lightly brush against Jisung’s cheek.

“Wow, I didn’t think you had it in you,” Jisung blinked. “I’m touched,” he put a hand on his heart, sniffling. “My bad influences are actually rubbing off on you.”

“If you’re so touched, you should come back down here and cuddle your wounded boyfriend.”

“Let me finish packing and I will,” Jisung compromised.

  
  


**Changbin**

@spearb

Oh shit this isn’t good 😰

**Felix** @fabulix

Who said this was a good idea in the first place??

**Changbin** @spearb

@fabulix You know I love you, but you also helped

  
  


In the middle of Minsung’s cuddling session that was rewarded to Minho for helping Jisung finish packing, Minho’s phone began to buzz in his pocket. Jisung giggled at the ticklish feeling and squirmed away from it.

“Get your phone,” Jisung mumbled with his face nuzzled into Minho’s chest.

Digging the phone out of his pocket, Minho brought it to his face to see who it was. He clicked the power button to silence the call.

“It’s just Changbin,” Minho answered before laying it behind him, forgetting about it. He figured he must have been calling to tell him he had figured out how to get the door unlocked.

Only a few seconds had passed before it buzzed again, tickling Minho’s back in the process. Taking it up again, he saw this time it was Felix calling. Curiously he answered it.

“Oh wow, so you answer when I call on Felix’s phone but not my own?” Changbin’s hurt voice sounded on the other end. “Really hyung, that pains me.”

“Is there a reason you called to bother me when you know what I’m doing?” Minho asked annoyed. He was this close to just disconnecting the call.

“‘Is there a reason you called to bother me,’ yes there’s a very big reason I called you,” Changbin huffed. “We have a problem.”

“Who is this we?” Minho asked, laying his phone down flatly on his ear so he could go back to hugging Jisung. “Oh, you and Felix? That’s a new one, since when do you guys have problems?”

“What, Felix and Changbin hyung are having problems?” Jisung asked suddenly with a bit of worry in his voice.

“You’re involved in this too, hyung,” Changbin muttered. “Listen, we don’t have much time to explain before Chan hyung comes back and kills me,” he said, now picking up his pace of talking. His rapping skills came in handy sometimes. “We may or may not have broken a piece of a bobby pin in the lock.”

“So? Just get it out.”

“No, you don’t understand,” Changbin shook his head. “We tried to get it out with another one but that one broke too. And tweezers are too big to fit”

“Why did both break? What are you doing, manhandling it?”

Jisung looked up with a mixture of confusion and disgust on his face. “What the fuck are you two talking about? That’s gross.”

“Shhh….” Minho pat his head softly, telling him to relax.

“Hyung. We need help. We can’t get them out so a key will go in. I don’t think Chan hyung even carries a key with him in the first place- I don’t even have a key- How are we going to fix this? He’s going to be mad if he sees we completely locked him out of his own room.”

“Why are you asking me? What am I supposed to know?”

“Ah hyung~ You’re the smart one. Help me out.” Changbin pleaded in his most humble voice.

Minho snickered at the tone of Changbin’s voice. It had been a minute since he'd heard him ask for his help like this. Still, he didn’t know how to fix the solution. Suddenly he looked back to Jisung with thoughts turning all around in his head. Softly he ran his fingers through the silver locks and twirled them around. He _really_ did not want to get up from this. And not just because his back hurt.

“Hang on a second, Bin,” Minho interjected before tapping the mute button on his phone and sitting it on the curve of his side. He lightly booped Jisung’s nose with his index finger. “Hey baby?”

“I don’t want to hear about their sex problems,” Jisung answered immediately.

“What?” Minho asked in a perplexed way, finger freezing where it was pressed against Jisung’s nose. “Ew. No. Jisung, gross.” He put his hands to his face, trying to rid the thought of that. “Ugh, why would you think that’s what this is about? How close do you think the two of us are?”

Jisung gave him a deadpan look. It said it all. He knew the two of them were just as close as he was with Felix.

“Okay, okay. Fair enough,” Minho rolled his eyes. “But that’s not what this is about. Changbin is an idiot and broke not one but two bobby pins in Chan’s dorm lock. He can’t get them out either with how they broke, apparently.”

“What was he doing to those poor things? Do you know how hard it is to break those like that?” Jisung asked in astonishment. As a master lock picker, he couldn’t figure how that could have happened.

“I don’t know, but he’s in a rush so Chan hyung doesn’t see and scold him for, again, being an idiot,” he said as if he hadn’t broken a bobby pin himself just earlier.

Hand reaching out, Jisung requested, “give me the phone,” before unmuting the call and bringing it to his ear. “Hyung, listen carefully. I need you to get a mini hot glue stick and a lighter. Send Felix to stall Chan hyung. He’s a sucker for Lix so that will buy you plenty of time. Call me when you’ve gotten them.”

“What? Where am I supposed to find a mini hot glue stick that fast?”

“Find someone that’s taking some sort of art class. They usually have those sorts of things laying around.”

“I don’t know of anyone,” Changbin groaned. “Hyung is the one with all of the connections, but I can’t ask him or he’ll get suspicious.”

“Try Hyunjin. I think he’s wanting to take art courses at some point,” Jisung shrugged. “Good luck.” He added before hanging up and pulling his arm back in between him and Minho so he could go back to being comfortable.

“Why does it sound like you sent him on a wild goose chase for something that’s unrelated?” Minho asked as he resumed playing with Jisung’s hair.

“Just trust me. Besides, I bought us some more time to be together with peace and quietness.”

“That you did,” Minho whispered as he planted a small kiss on top of Jisung’s head. He contemplated killing Changbin for interrupting their time together. It would save Chan a lot of trouble later on, after all.

  
  


**Changbin**

@spearb

Let’s just hope we can do this

  
  


“Okay, Lix. I’m counting on you to keep hyung away from here. I need to find Hyunjin. I’ll reward you if you do a good job.”

Felix stood up straight and saluted him. “ _Aye aye, Capt’n!”_

With that the two of them ran off in their separate ways to their own objectives.

By a short phone call, Felix was able to find Chan first. Figuring it would be well out of the way, the two of them met down in the common room of the dorms

“ _Oi, Felix. What was it you wanted me to see, bro?”_

Chan was already sitting on one of the couches waiting for his friend to join him. By how it seemed that he had been waiting for a minute, Felix guessed that he had been very close by and probably on his way to his room. He was grateful that he called him here when he did.

“ _Woah, you got here quick…”_ Felix thought aloud as he made his way over to him. _“Have you ever seen how animals eat their food?”_

“Have I what?” Chan blinked, not having guessed that to be the words to come out of his mouth at all.

“It’s a skit on YouTube,” Felix explained. He settled himself down beside Chan and slowly pulled out his phone. He made sure to take his sweet time with pulling up the video. “ _It’s really funny if you’ve never seen it before. There’s more than one of them too.”_

  
  


**Chan**

@cbang

🤣 What in the world

  
  


As patiently as he could, Changbin waited outside of Hyunjin and Seungmin’s dorm, waiting for the former to get there. From the looks of Chan’s tweet, it was a sure sign that Felix had him stalled somewhere. He trusted him to be able to keep the older there until he was done with everything.

“Oh hyung, sorry it took me so long,” Hyunjin apologized as he met up with Changbin who was leaning against the wall beside the door. “I wasn’t expecting you to need something.”

“Sorry about that,” Changbin scratched the back of his head timidly. The reason for him being here was a bit embarrassing. Not a bit. It was actually really embarrassing. Breaking more than one Bobby pins in a lock to the point that he couldn’t get them out? He still couldn’t believe his luck.

Letting the both of them into the room, Hyunjin started looking around in thought. “Now explain to me again what you need a hot glue stick for?”

“We jammed Chan hyung’s lock. Jisung told me to get it.”

“I still don’t have a clue how those two things have anything to do with each other, but okay.”

Hyunjin wandered into his shared bedroom and started opening all of his drawers in search for what he was looking for.

“What is it?” Changbin suddenly asked, feeling paranoid about the time passing him by. “Maybe I can help find it.”

“It’s a small bin thing. It’s clear and has a latch on the front of it. I just don’t know the last spot that I put it since I didn’t have an art class this semester.”

With the way the room was kept so tidy, it was hard to imagine anything getting lost in it. Guessing it had to be stashed away somewhere, Changbin opened the closet. There was a small pile of clothes in the corner of it. They either had been lazily thrown there in an effort to land in the laundry basket, or they somehow had fallen off the hangers.

Crouching down he carefully picked them up and moved them over. Eventually he uncovered what he thought he was looking for. Picking up the container in his hands, he stood up and held it out to Hyunjin.

“Is this it?”

“Oh! Hey, yeah, that is it.” Hyunjin nodded with a smile and took it so he could place it on his bed. “No wonder I couldn’t find it.”

Flipping the latch up with a small clicking sound, Hyunjin threw open the top of it and dug through it. It had multiple compartments for organizing purposes that he clearly just didn’t think he needed to abide by with the way everything looked thrown together. There were a mixture of pencils, pens, and other drawing utensils along with erasers, blending stumps, and the occasional random rubber bands and paper clips thrown into the mess. Eventually he found what he was looking for.

“Is this small enough for you?” Hyunjin questioned, holding up the lone hot glue stick in his fingers. It had specks of charcoal dotted around it, but Hyunjin doubted that would make a difference with anything.

Taking it in his own fingers, Changbin looked it over without a clue. “I hope so. Thanks, Hyunjin! I need to go call Jisung now,” he bowed before running out the dorm and towards the stairwell with his phone in hand. He was already dialing Jisung’s number. Thankfully the younger was unlike his boyfriend when it came to ignoring his calls.

“Okay, I got it!”

“Got what?”

“The hot glue stick like you said.”

“What about the lighter?”

Changbin halted to a dead stop, nearly busting his face on the stairs.

“Shit…”

Hanging up on Jisung without another word, Changbin back tracked towards Hyunjin’s dorm again. He just hoped he hadn’t already left.

“Hyunjin!” He yelled, knocking on the door rapidly. “Hyunjin, I forgot something!”

To his luck, the door opened before he could knock again. Hyunjin appeared behind it with a confused expression as he looked down at his panting friend. “What? What did you forget?”

“Lighter. I forgot, a lighter. Do you have one?”

Hyunjin looked back towards his room and hummed in thought. “Hang on,” he said before disappearing into his room. This time he looked through Seungmin’s things. He was always the one that would light the candles in their room. Surely he would have a lighter somewhere.

Without searching too hard, he found a pastel purple lighter with a puppy face sticker stick on one side of it. He shut the top drawer back before returning to Changbin. “Got one. Give it back to Seungmin when you’re done. I think that’s his only one.”

“I will! Thanks again, Hyunjin!”

“Don’t die~” Hyunjin waved as he watched the older sprint back to the stairwell.

By the time Changbin made it back to the dorm, Jisung and Minho were already waiting on him. Changbin stopped in front of Jisung and held the two objects out to him with his other hand against his leg. He was out of breath from the way he was taking the stairs two at a time.

“Hyung is still being stalled?” Jisung asked as he took the hot glue stick and lighter in his hand.

“As far as I’m aware Felix is still with him,” Changbin nodded. “Now what the heck are these things used for?”

“These are to get what you broke out of the hole,” Jisung explained as he stepped in front of the door handle. The two elders watched from either side of his shoulder as their friend flicked the lighter on and held the flame to the end of the hot glue stick. He didn’t hold it there but some seconds before letting the flame die out and sticking the hot end of the stick into the keyhole. It didn’t go very far in at all. It was just enough to reach the things that were stuck inside. Allowing just a few more seconds for the end of the glue stick to cool again, Jisung pulled it back out with both broken pieces stuck now in the glue.

“ _Voilà~_ ” He cheered in his best French accent, holding the hot glue stick up for all of them to see.

“What the fuck. Jisung. Tell us honestly,” Changbin gaped at the sight of how easy it was to get the pieces out. “Were you some sort of criminal before or not?”

“I’m actually with him on this one, believe it or not,” Minho chimed in. “You had to have been _something._ ”

Jisung crossed his arms at the two of them with a pained look. “I was no such thing. The only crime I have ever committed was being extremely handsome while being an absolute genius. It was just that knowing these sorts of things always impressed the ladies~”

“Oh I see,” Changbin blinked. “You were something of a fuckboi then.”

  
  


**Jisung**

@handome

WOW. 😦

**Jisung** @hansome

ME??

  
  
  


( I’m going to kick your boyfriend’s ass )

  
  


**Lix**

( ??!? )

( NO DONT HE CAN TAKE YOU )

  
  
  


**Chan**

@cbang

What goes on?

**Changbin** @spearb

FALSE ALARM! Nothing going on here

  
  


“Wait, wait, wait, I was just kidding!” Changbin pleaded with his hands out defensively. He hadn’t thought before he spoke at all. The accusation had come out faster than he could even process it. “I was just kidding! I didn’t mean to say that. My words came out wrong!”

Minho stood close to Jisung just in case he had to stop him from doing something. Thankfully the last thing on his mind right now seemed to be going after Changbin. After staring him down for a moment like he was going to pounce, he looked down with a sort of downcasted expression as he pressed his nails into the solid hot glue stick in his grasp. His mind was stuck in a flashback of his days in grade school.

Cautiously Changbin moved forward to embrace him in a small hug. It was a bit of a risky move, but it was one that would let the other know that he was sorry. He rested his chin on Jisung’s shoulder as he rubbed small circles on his back. “I’m sorry, Jisung, that was mean and thoughtless of me. I didn’t mean it like that. I was just trying to say with the skill set you have, I can see you being really popular and admired by everyone.”

“I know what you meant.” Jisung muttered as he reluctantly moved his own arms around Changbin’s frame. “You owe me a fancy dinner for everything.”

Changbin chuckled at that. Of course free food would be the key to earning Jisung’s forgiveness. He deserved it anyways for all of the help he’s been. “Deal.”

“ _Fancy_ ,” Jisung emphasized. “Someplace a CEO would go.”

“You need a reservation for most of those places.”

“Then the next step down,” Jisung settled.

“Alright, alright. I’m hungry anyways.” He pulled away from the hug so he could look at him. “But first would you mind unlocking the door? We still never got it open.”

“I kind of want to see Minho hyung do it,” Jisung admitted, shooting the one in question an expecting smile.

Changbin looked away, rubbing his head as if he wasn’t standing there hearing the conversation. He wasn’t about to tell Jisung that Minho didn’t actually pick the lock but he also wasn’t about to try to save his friend either.

Minho shot Changbin a knowing glare for hiding away like he was. He looked back to Jisung and put a hand on his head, rubbing his thumb back and forth against his head. Even if Changbin wouldn’t help him, he wouldn’t let himself get caught.

“Oh, but baby, I think it’s sexy when you do it so let me see this time, hm?”

  
  


**Changbin**

@spearb

He can’t seriously think that’s going to work.

**Changbin** @spearb

I stand corrected 😐

  
  


In two seconds flat, Jisung was able to get the door unlocked and open. It had been far too quick for either other boy to figure out how to do it just by watching him. Jisung really was a pro with this. No wonder he could do it efficiently even in his sleep.

Jisung handed back the hot glue stick and lighter back to Changbin with a grin. “I’ll go get ready for our fancy dinner now~” he mused. He stopped in front of Minho before giving him a quick kiss on the cheek and strolling back to his dorm. “ _Bye, baby_.”

Minho turned his face back towards Changbin. His glare was like daggers being thrown at him.

“Did you just steal him from me?”

“No…” Changbin denied slowly before slipping into the dorm and closing the door between him and Minho. It only stayed like that for a second before Minho barged in anyways.

  
  


About 20 more minutes had passed before Chan and Felix entered the room. Both stopped in the doorway when they found Minho face down on the couch with his face in a pillow. Chan slowly closed the door, wondering if he had been intruding on something.

“Are you alright?”

Minho muttered something incoherently.

“I’m sorry?”

Minho picked his face up from the pillow to say more clearly, “Bin stole my boyfriend.”

Chan didn’t miss the grumpy look on the younger’s face. They had been friends far too long for Minho to care about any facade with him. At this point in their friendship, Chan had seen all sides of him and he couldn’t help but think this side as being super cute.

The older walked over to sit on the coffee table that stood in front of the couch. He leaned back against his hands as he watched him, observing his state. It seemed like now would be a good talking session.

“And why did Bin steal your boyfriend?”

He couldn’t tell Chan about the lock thing. Well, he _could_ . He _could_ throw Changbin under the bus right now out of spite. But in turn he knew that was wrong. He also knew that he was the one to ask Changbin to help him in the first place. Mentally he kicked himself for the entire thing. He wasted an entire day of being able to be with his boyfriend in favor of causing a whole fiasco with his best friend.

What was it all for anyways? To impress Jisung? To get an interesting reaction out of him? He wasn’t sure why he even had to do any of that. He didn’t _have_ to, but he wanted to. Really all he wanted was to spend some quality time with him before he would leave him to go home for a week.

“Minho?” Chan called out to him, disrupting his thought process.

“What? Were you saying something?”

Chan and Felix exchanged a knowing look before Felix gave a small shrug. “I always thought Jisung was the clingy one.”

“Hey,” Minho protested with a frown. “I’m not clingy.”

Apparently Felix hadn’t meant to say that out loud for him to hear with the way he held a hand to his mouth and turned away. He wasn’t used to this Minho. Usually the boy was stoic, but now he was more exposed with his raw feelings towards Felix’s best friend.

“You and Bin are always together,” Minho continued. “Me and Jisung don’t spend nearly as much time together.”

“Maybe that’s another reason Changbin ‘stole your boyfriend,’” Chan thought. “When was the last time the two of them actually hung out together? Not even them, but 3RACHA as a whole hasn’t been very active lately.”

Minho pulled his mouth into a thin line as he thought about it. Chan did have a point. He might not have liked it all that much, but it was still there.

“I just wanted to spend our last day here together,” Minho murmured dejectedly as he rolled to his side and hugged the pillow closer to him.

“I promise you that you’ll get time with him before he leaves. In the meantime, play some Uno with me and Felix to get your mind off of it all,” Chan offered as he was already getting up to find the game stashed somewhere in his bookshelf.

“By the way,” Felix remembered as he sat in front of the couch with his back pressed against it. “Why did Jisung text me he was going to fight Binnie?”

“Oh that… Bin wasn’t very smart with his words and ended up calling Jisung something he didn’t mean,” Minho informed. “For a second I really thought he was going to get offended and tackle Changbin. But they made up quickly and that’s why he stole my boyfriend,” he finished, still quite salty about the last part.

“You keep saying that like you’re mad at him and you two aren’t actually best friends,” Chan chuckled as he set the cards down on the coffee table and sat in front of it so the three of them made a triangular shape.

“I am and we’re not,” Minho lied horribly, snatching the cards that were dealt to him. He knew he could never actually be mad at Changbin for something so silly. But that didn’t mean he would outwardly admit it. Harping about Changbin was a full time job for him.

“Whatever, grumpy,” Felix pitched in. “Let’s play so I can win.”

  
  


**Minho**

@meowho

This man cusses more than Jisung 😳

**Chan** @cbang

He cusses more than you do in your sleep

**Jisung** @hansome

Felix? You’re playing a game with him, aren’t you? You’ll forget about being terrified of me soon enough ☺️

**Minho** @meowho

@hansome Aren’t you supposed to be on a fancy date?

**Jisung** @hansome

Had to pee 🤷‍♂️ I’m checking my phone in the bathroom

  
  
  


After a couple hours passed, Changbin and Jisung entered the room, stopping just inside when they met the chaos of that inside. Felix was currently yelling into a throw pillow as he angrily shuffled through his very extensive hand. It was clear that Minho and Chan had been ganging up on him by making him draw card after card.

Chan was down to five cards that he held to his face as he tried to stifle his laughter. He couldn’t believe that this was the third time this round they had stacked up on Felix. The poor boy just wasn’t pulling any draw cards to save himself.

“Awe, angel, what are they doing to you?” Jisung ran over to hold his friend. Without another thought about it, he sat down behind him and pulled him into his lap. Looking over his shoulder, Jisung began to play with the cards in Felix’s hands. “Here, I’m going to help you win.”

“How is he going to win with all of those cards?” Minho asked with a total of 7 cards in his own hand.

“That’s the good part about it,” Jisung winked. “Always have a card for something.”

“I have got to see this,” Changbin sat closely beside Minho on the couch to observe their game.

Minho held his cards to his chest and glared at Changbin. “Don’t cheat.”

“I’m not even playing,” Changbin retorted as he slung one arm around Minho’s shoulders and used his free hand to pry the cards from his chest so he could see them.

“Let’s make a deal, then,” Jisung proposed as he continued shifting through Felix’s cards. “If we win, we win the entire game. No questions asked. We get bragging rights.”

“And if you lose?” Chan quipped, suddenly interested in this gamble.

“If we lose… then you get to make us each do one dare.”

“Wait, Jisung! That’s not fair,” Felix whipped his head around to try and convince his friend otherwise. How could he get pulled into something like that?

“Deal,” Minho accepted before the terms could get changed. “Do you want a fresh game to give you a chance at least?”

Shaking his head, Jisung merely pulled his mouth into a small smirk. “Nope. This is fair enough.”

“Jisung…” Felix whined, though his friend seemed to have no worries at all by the way he hummed in his ear softly.

One by one they all place their cards down, playing as best as they could. Chan and Minho had been thinking about what dare to give to the two seeming losers. Felix looked like giving up from the get go. He just had too many cards compared to the other two. He couldn’t understand why Jisung made such a bet in the first place. They were too far behind.

Slowly but surely, Jisung whittled the amount of cards they had by an impressive amount. He had dodged every draw four card with another to stack to someone else. It wasn’t until he called out Uno that the other two put their full focus on him. He held his hands closely against his last card, only allowing Felix to see what it was.

Felix put his hands over his face in an effort to not let the other two read his expression. Unlike Jisung, his poker face game was not that strong when it came to this.

Chan narrowed his eyes at him then to his own two cards. All he had was a red three and a blue skip. The card on the table was a green five. He had to draw. Blue five. He placed it down. He looked up at Minho and tried to convey something to him to him telepathically.

Minho frowned at his 3 cards. None were what he needed right then. Slowly he placed down the only card he could play. Jisung grinned ear to ear as he placed down his own wild card.

“Zero bitches~”

“Now there’s no way in hell-“ Minho threw his last two cards onto the table.

“Believe it, ladies,” Jisung laughed as he hugged Felix’s frame. “You’re welcome, angel,” he whispered to Felix before planting a small kiss on his cheek.

“Damn, Jisung. Who knew you were so good at this game? Felix had so many cards we highly doubted you would even get halfway down before we finished.” Chan sat staring wildly at him, still not believing what happened.

Felix moved out of Jisung’s lap to sit beside Changbin with a proud smile on his face. Jisung leaned over to gather all of the cards up to put them together. Splitting them into two stacks, he shuffled them a few times before loudly slapping the entire stack down in the center of the coffee table.

“What can I say? I’m a genius.” He stretched his arms above his head and let out a yawn. “All of that food and winning sure made me tired. I’m going to go take a nap,” he announced before standing up and looking towards Minho. “You coming?”

Without a second thought Minho bounced up and scrambled for the door. “Have fun without me,” he called back to the others without looking back.

  
  


**Chan**

@cbang

I still don’t believe it

**Felix** @fabulix

My best friend is talented 🤩

  
  


“Tell me your secret,” Minho prodded as he let Jisung into his dorm. In all honesty he didn’t need to let him in. He was perfectly capabale of letting himself in.

Jisung merely kicked off his shoes at the entrance before stalking to the bedroom and flopping down on the bed without a word but instead with a cocky look on his face.

Huffing, Minho pulled his own shoes off and ran after him. He crawled on top of him and held himself up above him so Jisung would be forced to look at him.

“I’m so glad to see that your back is feeling better,” Jisung mused as he stroked Minho’s cheek. “Maybe I really didn’t hurt it after all.”

“What you're hurting now is my pride,” Minho pouted with puffed cheeks. “What tricks did you pull back there?”

“You’re breaking the deal, baby.” Jisung booped Minho’s cute little button nose with a finger. “I’m tired, I want a nap. Nap with me.”

“What deal?”

“The part where I said no questions asked,” Jisung reminded with a smug look on his face. 

Minho frowned at that but stayed staring at him for a minute longer. “Hey, Jisung?”

“Hm?” Jisung hummed with a tilt of his head to the side.

“Were you drinking earlier?”

“Oh,” Jisung blinked. “I didn’t think I smelled.”

“Your face is right in mine,” Minho pointed out. But it’s not bad. It smells… expensive.”

“It was,” Jisung smiled, slowly bringing his hand up to hook his fingers in the collar of Minho’s shirt. “But it tasted even better, you should try,” he whispered in a warm voice before pulling Minho down by the collar of his shirt and kissing him. The bittersweet taste of aged wine danced between the two of them; both trying to savor the flavor of it.

Minho knew from the moment that Jisung had walked into their game of Uno that he had been drinking. He had a different energy to him than usual. It was nowhere near the amount that he had consumed at the party, so he was very much aware of what he was doing. It wouldn’t cause him to act as promiscuous as before, but it was just enough to shed his shy shell for a while.

Despite the cute, reserved side of Jisung being his favorite, Minho very much liked this side of him too. It gave him what he needed to be able to survive the coming week without being able to see Jisung. He wasn’t clingy. He would swear to that time and time again. It was just that he’s become so used to the boy’s daily presence around him that it becomes strange when he’s not there. That was all. He swore to it.

After eventually breaking away from the kissing, Jisung brought his hand back to himself and smiled sweetly at Minho. “What did I say? Good, right?”

“I think I might have to get Changbin to offend me too so he can take me on a fancy date too,” Minho joked.

Chuckling at the thought, Jisung lifted a leg up to knock Minho over onto his side. Immediately he latched onto him to the point where he knew he wouldn’t move.

“I’m serious, though. I _am_ tired.”

“You know I hate meaninglessly laying around for long timeframes,” Minho huffed even though he brought his arm over Jisung’s side to hold him closer. “You’re lucky you’re so stinking cute.”

“You’re cute too, baby. Now sleep.”

“You’re bossy,” he muttered as he played with Jisung’s hair in between his fingers, thoughts playing around inside of his head. “What am I supposed to do without hearing of your demands?”

“It’s just a week. You’ve survived how many years without me?”

“Far too many,” Minho admitted without missing a beat. Jisung in turn let out a breath of a laugh through his nose and kissed him softly once more before nuzzling his head further into the pillow. It was amusing to him how they suddenly swapped levels of clinginess for a while. Sighing, Minho swaddled Jisung in his arms before finally giving in and closing his own eyes as well.

Minho was wrong for thinking this wouldn’t be how they were spending their last day together. He had planned for actually leaving the campus and getting out, but of course his hermit boyfriend would get his way and make them nap together. In the end, Minho couldn’t find it in him to actually care. They would be going their separate ways for a week to spend time at home. All Minho cared about right now was being in the same place as Jisung so he could survive the distance that was soon to come.

  
  


**Lix**

( 🤣💀 That was genius, Sungie )

( Licking your finger to stick like cards together and put them down at once instead of one at a time )

( And shuffling them yourself so they wouldn’t be stuck together anymore for anyone in the next game to know- incredible )

( Hyungs had no clue )

( Wait- )

( Is that how you always beat me?? )

( 😿 I thought we were soulmates )

( Dream of me eating the last piece of cheesecake 😤 )

( No I’m sorry. That was mean. I wouldn’t ever eat the last piece 💕 )

( I still love you though )

( Cheater 😾 )

  
  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’d like to say thank you to CHRISpyCHEESus for giving me the idea to make this chapter. I rEALLY did not think it would turn out to be this long, holy crap. But do you guys like longer chapters like this? Is it fine? I only have a few more chapters left to go.
> 
> Fun fact~ In case you didn’t know~ melting the end of a hot glue stick can actually get anything you broke inside of a keyhole out (e.g, like if it’s really cold and your key breaks inside of it) The more you know!
> 
> I don’t know, I had a lot of fun writing this chapter and I really hope you guys liked it too ❤︎ See you next Monday for a slight detour~


	38. Chapter 38

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this is a few hours late! I went to bed earlier than I could post it ｡ﾟ(ﾟ´ω`ﾟ)ﾟ｡ I hope you all are doing well ❤︎
> 
> Please enjoy this short detour chapter

* * *

  
Since the finale of finals week, mostly everyone has moved back into their homes for until the next semester would start. Changbin’s place was the popular accommodation for his friends to stay as he was the only one that didn’t live with any family. He didn’t mind the company. There was plenty of space in the large flat for people to stay without getting in the way. As long as no one made a mess, he didn’t really care who stayed over. Sometimes even Jeongin came over to hang out with him and Felix.

Minho and Jisung were really the only ones that ever frequented the dorms. With both being too embarrassed to stay the night together at one of their house’s, they came to agreement that they would put Minho’s dorm into use. It was a comfortable solution for them. They could still easily frequent each other’s houses during the day and go places, but as long as they were together at night, they would meet back at the dorms.

As of late, Hyunjin was the odd one out in most places. Though he blamed it on him having missed Kkami so much. This worked as a solid excuse for when anything else failed. Even his cat allergy was brought up when Minho tried to get him to join him somewhere. He felt dirty for making up such an excuse, but at the time being he just couldn’t bring himself to do anything.

The only thing on his agenda was catching up on all of his anime that he had put aside in watching while he was preparing for finals. It was the only way to keep his mind away from his phone and responsibilities. Only once since his retreat did he allow himself near anyone and that was just because he let slip to Jisung with what he was watching at the time. Next thing he knew, Jisung had shown up at his door and made him restart his episode so they could catch up on the episodes together. It wasn’t a terrible time, Hyunjin would say. Jisung didn’t bring up anything about his obvious sheltered state, but he did talk through much of the episodes. Thank god for subtitles.

Hyunjin had been grateful that apart from that one day, Jisung was too busy with either messing around in 3RACHA work or was with the one Hyunjin referred to as the catboy. It was one less person to bother his time with laying in bed and reading manga series on his phone. Just one less person. Felix on the other hand had a tendency to try to reach out to him whenever he had the time. Just as Hyunjin went to hit the address bar in his search browser on his phone, Felix’s new message had appeared. Even though he hadn’t meant to, Hyunjin was staring now at their open chat.

  
  


**Felix 🦘**

( Hey 😊 )

  
  


( I’m not leaving )

( It’s too dark )

( Manga )

  
  


**Felix 🦘**

( I didn’t even say anything 😿 )

  
  


( I know you well enough at this point to know the translation )

  
  


**Felix** 🦘

( You don’t know that )

( I could just be saying hey )

( I like talking to my friends 🥰 )

  
  


( … )

( Hey Felix 🙄 )

  
  


**Felix 🦘**

( Hyung~ )

  
  


( I knew it 😩 )

  
  


**Felix 🦘**

( Oh come ooooon 😭 )

( Final grades have been posted )

( There’s no way you could have failed a single one of your finals. I believed in you way too much. I sent positive vibes to you )

( This isn’t about Kkami anymore 😤 )

  
  


( How can you say that? I’m always missing Kkami 💔 )

  
  


**Felix** 🦘

( This has gone on for too long 😤 )

( I’m giving you until the end of the week )

( I will personally come get you two if you haven’t moved by then )

  
  


( But the end of the week is in two days )

  
  


**Felix 🦘**

( Time’s a ticking 🕐 )

  
  
  


**Hyunjin**

@hwangjin

Who claims Felix? Who taught him to be like this?

**Changbin** @spearb

He’s like that on his own 🤷♂️

**Jeongin** @notyouroppa

What is it? I want to join

  
  


**Hyunjin**

@hwangjin

Darn it...

  
  


With a heavy sigh Hyunjin tossed his phone on his desk and fell backwards into his bed. Staring up at the ceiling, he contemplated his situation. It was starting to become obvious that he was dodging the inevitable. He had gone ghost since leaving the dorms. At some point in time he would have to go back to them. At some point he would have to stop being a coward.

Promptly cutting off his thought process, Kkami jumped onto the bed, landing straight on his owner’s stomach. Despite the dog being so little, without preparing for impact Hyunjin let out a groan. It was as if the little chihuahua was telling him, _hey dummy! Snap out of it!_ Because Kkami would in fact call his owner a dummy if he ever had the chance to speak.

Rolling over, Hyunjin pulled Kkami up to his chest and snuggled him for the few seconds that he was allowed before he wriggled out of his grasp. “Kkami…” he whined, patting the spot beside him as he was completely and utterly ignored. “Why do you hate me? I just want to love on you and give you kisses,” he pouted with his bottom lip stuck out.

He gave up when the dog wouldn’t budge. Flopping back over to his back, Hyunjin pulled on his cross necklace and rubbed its cold surface between his fingers. There had to be something to get him going. He couldn’t let Felix get his way. As if it were a sign, his phone buzzed again against his desk’s hard surface.

“What does he want now?” Hyunjin groaned as he went to retrieve his phone. It was only when he picked it up did he see that it wasn’t Felix this time.

  
  


**Minnie 💕**

  
  


( Hyunjinnie )

( What are you up to? )

  
  


Hyunjin almost put the phone back as if he never even saw a message. Almost. He wondered if Felix had been the one behind the sudden message. No, he couldn’t have. His friend was always good when it came to sticking to his word. Chewing at the corner of his lip, he opened the message. There was no way he could keep avoiding everyone like this.

  
  


( Just laying with Kkami )

( About to go to sleep )

  
  


**Minnie 💕**

( You really missed him, huh? )

  
  


( Of course I did. That’s my baby 🥰 )

  
  


**Minnie 💕**

( You sound like hyung now )

( Anyways. Tomorrow morning )

( Do you want to go to that café we used to always go to? 😋 It’s been a minute since the last time we’ve gone. You can even bring Kkami )

  
  


( You know I’m not awake in the mornings 😒 )

( Plus it’s too cold outside for Kkami to stay out there )

  
  


**Minnie 💕**

( I mean morning for you. Translation: between afternoon and 5pm )

( It is cold out, so we really don’t have to. Just a thought ☺️)

  
  


( I don’t sleep in that late 😑 )

  
  


**Minnie 💕**

( If that’s what helps you sleep better at night )

  
  


( 🙄 whatever. I’ll text you when I get up then )

  
  


**Minnie 💕**

( 👍 )

  
  


—

( Why is Seungmin suddenly texting me? )

  
  


**Felix 🦘**

( Did he really?? )

( What did he say??? )

  
  


( Did you really have nothing to do with this? )

( You /did/ just pressure me to do something )

  
  


**Felix 🦘**

( I swear I didn’t! )

( Why would I give you two days and then take that right back? )

( He probably just saw you finally post on twt after seemingly throwing your phone into a lake and never bothering to get it back 😑 )

  
  


( … okay you have a point )

( that was pretty much the reason I’ve been so MIA )

  
  


**Felix 🦘**

( You still never answered my question ☹️ )

  
  


( What question? )

( Oh. )

( He just wanted to go to that café we always went to tomorrow )

  
  


**Felix 🦘**

( Ohhh??? 🤩 )

( Tell me all of the deats afterwards! )

( And that wasn’t a suggestion 😘 )

  
  


( Goodnight, Felix )

  
  


**Felix 🦘**

( Sweet dreams 🥰💕 )

  
  


**Felix**

@fabulix

Looks like I can sit back and relax after all 😎

  
  


Hyunjin clicked his phone off with a sigh before leaving it on the desk and returning to his bed. So much for having two days to figure himself out. He really screwed it up for himself with that one He didn’t bother with setting an alarm clock as he wouldn’t wake up to it in the first place. Without Seungmin there to wake him up, the next best thing was Kkami whining to be let out. Whenever that was, would be the time he would wake up. He just hoped that it would be after double digits at least.

“Kkami,” Hyunjin whispered as he reached a hand out to gently pet the dog’s furry head. “At least 10 o’clock. That’s all I’m asking for.”

Kkami, still ignoring his owner as per usual, simply curled up into a ball and let out a small yawn before going to sleep himself.

“Maybe don’t wake me up at all?”

All night Hyunjin tossed and turned with thoughts running through his mind at 100mph. From the tone of the messages, it sounded like Seungmin had been really hoping Hyunjin would agree to go with him to the café. He brought up Kkami. He tried to rid Hyunjin of an excuse. The fact that Seungmin hadn’t taken into account that it was too cold for Hyunjin to take the small dog out for so long led him to believe that he was grasping for anything.

They had known each other for years. Hyunjin would have had to have fallen off the back of a truck yesterday to not notice the lack of the younger’s usual thoughtful process. It wasn’t a common thing for Seungmin to not think about all details of something before suggesting it. The only detail he could have thought about was specially asking to meet at the café. It was a known and comfortable spot for the both of them. What could Seungmin possibly be planning? Hyunjin knew this wasn’t just a random invitation. This started to worry him even more and caused him to begin dreading tomorrow arriving even more.

“Just clear your mind and count sheep,” Hyunjin told himself before finally closing his eyes and doing just that.

—

The next morning came with Kkami sure enough waking his owner by barking at the door, demanding to be let out. Hyunjin groaned in response to the yapping, wishing he would just go back to sleep. He flipped the pillow out from under his head and pressed it down on his ear to try and block out the noise.

“Kkami, please. Just five more minutes,” he pleaded.

Sadly, the request for more sleep went unnoticed and so Hyunjin swung his legs out of bed and opened the door to let the little rascal out. Not even bothering to properly get himself dressed in warmer clothes, he headed to the front door and grabbed Kkami’s leash. Bowing his head tiredly to his parents with a mumble of a good morning, Hyunjin headed out the door.

The bitter wind nipped at the bare skin of Hyunjin’s neck and ankles, causing him to instantly become more awake. In effort to get his blood going, he moved around side to side as he waited for Kkami to get done. Straight afterwards he ran back inside.

Unhooking the leash, Hyunjin made a break for his room and dove under the covers to try and reclaim his lost body heat. Much to his dismay, any hint of heat had already escaped from his blankets. Shivering slightly, he peeled his head out to look at the clock. It was still a quarter til 10.

Deciding that he wouldn’t be able to go back to sleep like this, he threw the covers back off of him and headed to his bathroom for a hot shower. If he were already up, he might as well go ahead and get himself ready for the day.

He gave himself a once over in the bathroom mirror just to make sure he looked good. The thought passed him by with a scoff. Of course he looked good. He was fitted in a low white turtleneck shirt with a long tan overcoat and black pants. Not only did he look fresh, but he felt nice and toasty too. Just for safe measures he added a plaid scarf. He really did hate being cold.

Once he was finished preparing himself physically, he fiddled around with his phone. The screen was lit up with Seungmin’s messages. He already had his own message typed out but hovered a finger over the send button before finally pressing it. There was no going back now.

  
  


( I’m awake and dressed )

  
  


**Minnie 💕**

( I’ll be at the café in half an hour )

  
  


Of course the younger would have responded right away. He’s probably been up for a lot longer than him, giving him ample time to be ready without rushing. It was unheard of that his friend would ever wake up after him. Sliding his phone into his coat pocket, Hyunjin went to bid farewell to his parents before exiting the house.

He didn’t miss the way that the two of them whispered about it being some miracle that he was leaving so early in the day. It was unlike him that he would even be awake at this time. Everyone knew that Hyunjin liked to sleep in as late as he could. This was all Seungmin’s fault.

  
  


The said boy had beat Hyunjin to the café despite the time estimate he gave. Maybe it was just because Hyunjin took his precious time on getting here that allowed the other to be already seated with two drinks at their table.

It was the window seat that was furthest away from the door. It was a smart choice on Seungmin’s part. This way they wouldn’t have to feel the cold breeze every time someone went through the door. Hyunjin mentally thanked him for considering that as he made his way to him. Maybe he still was thinking after all.

“Oh good, you’re here,” Seungmin smiled up at his friend once he noticed the other’s presence.

He was sitting patiently waiting alone while dressed in all black, save for a navy coat hung around him. His usual bang hair was now just slightly parted in the front. If he shook his head the part would most likely disappear in seconds. It was a different look than his usual comfy attire. He looked- incredibly handsome, Hyunjin thought.

There was just something about his smile that instantly warmed Hyunjin on the inside. It wasn’t a bright smile, but it was one that let him know the younger was happy to see him. The taller boy let himself give the same look back in return as he finally set himself down in the empty chair with the drink waiting there for him.

“It’s still hot, so be careful,” Seungmin warned as Hyunjin took the cup in his cold hands. The heat radiating inside the cup was instant relief to him just by holding it. 

As the elder took the time to close his eyes and drink some of the warm liquid, Seungmin gave himself the chance to look him over. Not being sure what exactly he was looking for, his eyes stayed fixated on the turtleneck and scarf around Hyunjin’s neck.

“Ahh~” Hyunjin let out with the clank of his cup hitting the table top. “That really hit the spot. I needed that.”

“Did you not get much sleep? I was surprised you even texted me when you did.”

“Kkami woke me up so early,” Hyunjin shook his head. “I asked him to just wait a little longer, but he wouldn’t have it.”

Seungmin giggled softly at the thought of Hyunjin trying to bargain with a dog to get more sleep. He was glad Kkami was brought up so he could ask, “you’ve been spending a lot of time with Kkami recently. No more dates?”

“Dates?” Hyunjin repeated with a furrowed brow. He remembered back to when he said he went on a date with Minho and Jisung before shaking his head again. “Oh, no. With Minho hyung always being with his cats he would set off my allergies. And I just haven’t gone to hang out with anyone else.”

Seungmin played with his hands in his lap. He knew the other wouldn’t understand when he was being like this. Beating around the bush never got the job done for him. When it came to Hyunjin, he could be a bit of a space cadet. He had to be frank.

“Hyunjin.” He wasn’t looking at him now but finally Hyunjin averted his gaze to him at the sound of his name. “Lately…” he thought about how to word it without making it seem out of proportion. “Lately you haven’t been around.”

“Well yeah, Kkami-“

“No, not him,” Seungmin cut him off without meaning to. He apologized for doing so before he continued. His mind was becoming frantic. “Before we even got out of school. Right around the beginning of finals you suddenly stopped being around as much.”

Hyunjin opened his mouth slightly before letting out a small, “ah…” and letting his eyes wander to the outside. So he had noticed after all. Of course he would. He’s Kim Seungmin. He notices every little detail that’s even just slightly scewered.

“What is it?”

Suddenly the tone of Seungmin’s voice sounded more desperate as he asked that question. Scared to get any closer in fear that the older would leave, Seungmin sat still in his seat by awaiting an explanation. It wasn’t like them to have this sort of energy between them.

“You never studied with me and you always stayed out so late doing it by yourself.”

“How did you know about that?” Hyunjin asked, forgetting who he was even talking to for a moment. He shouldn’t have assumed Seungmin didn’t know about his personal studying sessions. The man knew everything. Well, almost everything. It was difficult to slip anything by him.

“When you fell asleep with your phone still on one night. I saw your notes on there,” Seungmin explained. Once he got it out he figured it might have sounded wrong. “I’m sorry I looked. I just wanted to turn it off and plug it in for you so it wouldn’t die. I just happened to see it.”

His previous warm expression was replaced with that of a sullen one that was trying its best to mask itself. He couldn’t save face much longer. All of his strength had been put into calling Hyunjin here alone. “Just what caused you to push me away so much?”

It was heartbreaking to Hyunjin to see the younger like this. But he hadn’t taken into account that maybe he was worrying him with his distance. This is what happens when he tries to do things on his own. Head lowered, Hyunjin reached into his pocket to get his phone. Tapping on the screen for a minute, he was able to pull up what he had been looking for. He spared Seungmin a second of a glance then back to his phone. Silently he placed it in front of the other to see the screen.

Looking down, Seungmin wasn’t understanding what he was looking at at first. It was a pdf document that he soon read that contained Hyunjin’s final grades, including the grades he made on each final. Each one was or near a perfect score. Every class had an A beside it.

It wasn’t something that Seungmin had imagined. He knew that Hyunjin wasn’t the best test taker there was. But the listed grades had proved that that was probably no longer the case.

He should have been happy. He should have been congratulating his friend for doing so well. But he couldn’t. It felt like his heart was shattering. Hyunjin had been pushing him away. He had studied all by himself, never once asking for any sort of help but still getting astonishing scores. Even after the finals he still kept the distance. And now when he finally gets to see him again, Hyunjin is completely covered up. It gave Seungmin even more suspicions. What he got from this was; Hyunjin no longer needed him. He no longer wanted him.

He felt tears swelling up in his eyes, but refused to let them escape. He bit them back as best as he could, controlling his composure. He couldn’t let himself end up like this. He would just wrap it up and hurry home. He hadn’t planned for Hyunjin’s next words to break the dam.

“I know I’ve never been the smartest cookie in the jar. All these years I’ve relied so much on you to get through school exams. I got so sick of it. I thought you would never actually see me if I kept on like this. So I made sure to do this by myself. I wanted to show you that I can be smart too.” Hyunjin hadn’t been able to look at Seungmin the entire time he was talking. He couldn’t pull his eyes away from where he played with the end of his scarf. His voice got quieter as he finished with, “I just wanted to make you proud of me.”

Raising his head he saw Seungmin looking back at him with tears streaming down his face. Scrambling from his seat, Hyunjin knelt down beside Seungmin and wiped away at his tears with his scarf. Though it probably sounded horrible, he was grateful for the way Seungmin was a silent crier so no one around would notice and stare.

“Minnie, why are you crying? Don’t cry. You know I’ll cry too,” Hyunjin said through a choked voice.

Seungmin took one of the ends of Hyunjin’s scarf and hid his face in it. “I thought you didn’t need me anymore. And with the way you’re dressed and have been gone, I thought maybe you found someone else and were trying to cover something up from me,” he sobbed quietly.

“What? No, I’m just really cold! I’m not hiding anything from you, I promise. Please don’t cry, Min,” Hyunjin pleaded but was already starting to tear up as well. He hadn’t meant to make the other feel this way at all. “I’m sorry I made you cry. Please don’t cry.”

“I’m not crying,” Seungmin blatantly lied. Currently he was falling apart right in front of Hyunjin. But he was so relieved that he had been thinking wrong this entire time.

Hyunjin pulled him into a comforting hug, resting his chin on the smaller’s head. Soothingly he rubbed Seungmin’s back as he felt him start to contain himself once more. This wasn’t at all how he imagined this meeting going. Sure, he figured he would have been called out on his absence, but he didn’t think this would be a confession from Seungmin.

“Are you okay now?” Hyunjin dared to let go after a minute just so he could look at him.

Nodding silently, Seungmin gradually brought Hyunjin’s scarf down from his face. Through his crying, his cheeks were lightly flushed and glistening. His eyelashes were still slick from tears. A rod was sent straight through Hyunjin’s heart at the sight of it. Seungmin really was the prettiest crier he’s ever met in his entire life.

Carefully Hyunjin moved back into his seat. He was holding his breath as he watched the other, scared to move or make a sound. He allowed Seungmin to break the silence first.

“I’m really proud of you,” Seungmin began softly, pushing the phone back to lay in front of its owner. “I know you worked yourself to death with studying. But… what was the point of it? You didn’t think I was proud of you before?” He asked with a bit of a strain in his voice. He thought he had always been outwardly supportive of Hyunjin so it pained him to think Hyunjin didn’t think the same.

Hyunjin took up his phone and played with it in his hands, keeping his eyes down on them. Internally he was embarrassed. “Like I said, I didn’t think you would take me seriously. A lot of people, they think I’m just worth my looks. It bothers me. So much to the point that I started to believe them.”

Reaching out, Seungmin took a hold of his hands gently in his own. “Hyunjin. You can’t seriously think that I’m that shallow. You’ve known me for how long now? I agree, you are drop dead gorgeous and I can guarantee half the campus has a crush on you just for that, but you’re so more than that, hyung.”

Did he actually think Seungmin was that shallow? Maybe not, but just the reassurance of it caused Hyunjin’s eyes to twinkle at him. “Really?”

“Really. This whole time I thought you just didn’t need or want me anymore or that you found someone else; it was eating me up because _I_ need _you_ . You never fail to make me smile with your little antics.” Seungmin was smiling again. It was a soft and pleasant smile. One that said, _I’m grateful_. “I know I may not look it, but I get stressed every now and then, but you’ve always made it better. I’ve always looked forward to our late night talks about what was going on with ourselves. You’re more than I could ever ask for in someone.”

Hyunjin’s lower lip was pouted out and quivering. This was one of the first times that someone has said they like him for who he is as a person. But of course Seungmin would be the one to say it. They’ve known each other for years and have been best friends since they first met. He’s always been on Hyunjin’s side with everything. In hindsight, he wasn’t sure what he was so afraid of.

  
  


**Hyunjin**

@hwangjin

Finally.

**Felix** @fabulix

Finally??

**Minho** @meowho

I remember tweeting something like this once 🧐

**Jisung** @hansome

(・・?)

  
  


**Seungmin**

@songmin

I apologize for my boyfriend’s crypticality. He’s new to this.

**Felix** @fabulix

BOYFRIEND??

**Hyunjin** @hwangjin

@fabulix Boyfriend.

**Jisung** @hansome

Ooh, a new team has entered the game 😌

  
  


**Jeongin**

@notyouroppa

Whatever is in the air, I don’t want it 😷

  
  
  


**Minho hyung**

( It took you long enough )

( I thought you would have been quicker )

  
  


( 🙄 It’s different when it’s not for someone else… )

( I was too worried about how he would react )

( You can’t blame me for actually thinking the way I did )

  
  


**Minho hyung**

( You mean thinking that he might have actually lost interest in you in favor of someone else? )

( Hyunjin’s slick, but I doubt he’s good enough to hide an entire person from you )

( Besides, I don’t think I’ve ever seen him actually spare someone a glance. I thought he was just full of himself at first 🙄 )

( Turns out he just really had his loyalty set )

  
  


( Anyways )

  
  
  


**Minho hyung**

( So how’d you do it? )

  
  


( I was just upfront about it )

( Maybe the crying helped too? )

( I don’t know, Hyunjin was just as scared as I was )

  
  


**Minho hyung**

( You, Kim Seungmin, cried? )

  
  


( 😔 )

( I didn’t intend to. It just came out )

  
  


**Minho hyung**

( I’ll beat his ass for making you cry )

  
  


( No it’s okay 🤗 It was just a misunderstanding )

( I’d like to have him in one piece to watch this movie )

  
  


**Minho hyung**

( Watch a scary movie. He loves those 😸 )

  
  


( He would never sit through that 😶 )

  
  


**Minho hyung**

( Won’t know if you don’t tell him 😇 )

  
  


—

**Catboy’s Simp**

( Seungmin said Minho hyung couldn’t kick your ass so I’ll do it in his place 😤 )

  
  


( I will step on you, midget )

  
  


**Catboy’s Simp**

( R00D!! )

  
  


( It wasn’t done intentionally 😓 Let me live )

( I’d like to be not single for at least one (1) full day )

  
  


**Catboy’s Simp**

( 24 hours and I’m coming for you Hwang 👊 )

  
  


( At least wear your platform boots so you can reach my level, alright? )

  
  


**Catboy’s Simp**

( DAMN )

( I might have been kidding before but maybe now I really will kick your ass 😤 )

  
  


( I’ll just sick the babie on you 🥱 )

  
  


**Catboy’s Simp**

( That’s awful, putting the dirty work on someone else. Can’t you fight your own battles? )

  
  


( Shhhh )

( Movie’s starting 🍿 )

**Catboy’s Simp**

( I hope he picked the scariest movie there is 😈 )

  
  


( Oh go kiss hyung or something and leave me alone 😒 )

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Keeping up with these chapters is getting harder as I near the end. I used to have a good 5 chapters up and ready to be posted on their respected Mondays. I still haven’t even written the last one yet because I don’t really know *how* to get there. I know the end goal, it’s just the middle ground I’m having issues with filling in. The plan is to end on 40; a nice, clean number. Next chapter is done and is the longest chapter yet. (It’s over 9000!!) I say it’s “done,” but I can always go back and add/change things around since it’s so very open-ended in a way. It all depends
> 
> I’m really trying to keep momentum going up until the very end. I feel like I’ve done so well—hopefully– and hate to let you down with some of the content *I’m sorry for this chapter ㅠㅠ I wrote it in an effort to stay on track. But I really think you guys will enjoy next week’s chapter ❤︎ I have it stocked full of so many things such as slight fluff, mischief, and more ☆〜（ゝ。∂）
> 
> Please look forward to next Monday~


	39. Chapter 39

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did I say over 9k? Dang, I edited this I don’t even know how many times now at it’s exceeding 10k words. I swear I read through each chapter at LEAST 12 times before I ever post it. Anyways, I hope you guys are comfortable cause this is a long one (^_^;)
> 
> Also!! 500 kudos and 14k hits?? Wow! Thank you so much for all of the support! It’s so wild to me with how many people are actually reading and liking this story
> 
> Please enjoy~

* * *

**  
Pabbit and the Seven Dwarves**

[ You added 7 members to the chat ]

  
  


( Welcome everyone, welcome )

  
  


**Jeonginnie**

( What is a pabbit )

( Pig+rabbit )

**Best friend 🐈**

( I think it should just be piggy )

( Plus what’s with the seven dwarves? You’re the shortest one here )

  
  


**Jeonginnie**

( 💀 )

  
  


**Kitten** 💝

( I came up with pabbit 😞 I thought it was cute )

  
  


**The Cheesecake Factory**

( And it is cute, angel 🥰 )

( you better apologize to him 😠 )

  
  


**Best friend 🐈**

( I wasn’t insulting the name of it- )

( Just the owner of it 😇 )

  
  


**Hyunjin 👑**

( Am I the only one that’s curious as to why we’re all randomly in this group chat? )

  
  


( If sOMEONE would stop insulting me for a second, I could tell you )

  
  


**Best friend** 🐈

( Yeah, Jisung. Let him speak )

  
  


**The Cheesecake Factory**

( 😑 )

  
  


**Seungmong 🐶**

( This is chaos )

  
  


**Channie hyung**

( Whenever you’re ready )

  
  


( 😞 this was a horrible idea… )

  
  


**Best friend 🐈**

( If it’s coming from you… )

( I’m sorry, I’ll shut up now )

( ☺️ )

  
  


( I’m ignoring that because it wasn’t my idea )

( Anyways )

( What are your schedules looking like for the week? More specifically, starting Thursday )

  
  


**The Cheesecake Facory**

( Is this another party? I don’t think I trust myself- )

  
  


**Jeonginnie**

( No one trusts you anymore at parties )

  
  


( It’s not a party )

( My parents think I’ve been cooped up in my house since the start of break and want me to leave )

( So they thought it was a great idea to book some rooms at a ski resort )

  
  


**Channie hyung**

( For one, you have been cooped up in your house the entire time )

  
  


**The Cheesecake Factory**

( But what does that have to do with the rest of us? )

  
  


( It’s for all of us )

  
  


**Kitten 💝**

( WAIT REALLY?? )

( We get to go to a ski resort?? )

  
  


**Best friend** 🐈

( What? We all get to go? )

  
  


( They got the entire package for a couple days so everything is included. There’s only three rooms; two of which have two queen sized beds each )

  
  


**The Cheesecake Factory**

( Let me guess. )

  
  


( Yeah, yeah, yeah. Me and Lix get the one with just one bed in it )

  
  


**The Cheesecake Factory**

( I wanted to guess 😖 )

  
  


**Seungmong 🐶**

( Three to a room with two beds isn’t bad at all )

( Thanks, hyung. This is really nice of you )

  
  


( It wasn’t me, trust me )

( but thanks 😭 at least someone appreciates me here )

  
  
  


**Hyunjin** 👑

( I CALL JEONGIN )

( You know, with me and Seungmin )

  
  


**The Cheesecake Factory**

( How come you get to call him😢 )

  
  


**Jeonginnie**

( I prefer Hyungjin anyways )

  
  


**The Cheesecake Factory**

( HYUNGJIN- )

( After everything we’ve been through 😭 )

  
  


**Channie hyung**

( Awe, that hurts, Jisung. I’m fun too )

  
  


**Best friend 🐈**

( I would have chosen you, hyung 😘 )

  
  


( I’m so glad I get a quiet room )

  
  


**The Cheesecake Factory**

( I’ll come have a sleepover with you and Lix 😘 )

  
  


( That's the opposite of quiet )

( 😓 Just be ready to go by Thursday )

  
  


**The Cheesecake Factory**

( Aren’t you usually the one that’s running behind? )

  
  


( 🤕 )

  
  


—

**Channie hyung**

( Don’t worry about anything. I’ll make sure everything is good )

( Just worry about yourself and I got the rest )

  
  


( Finally someone I can trust ☺️ )

  
  


**Channie hyung**

( Also I hope you know everyone is just teasing you because we love you )

  
  


( Wish you guys could love me a little less 😅 )

( Who am I kidding, that would be boring. I’ll see you guys Thursday )

( 💖 )

  
  


Before anyone even knew it, Thursday rolled around and everyone gathered out front of the ski resort hotel lobby. Chan had done just as he promised and managed to get everyone together and on time to the resort. The six of them stood huddled together in their thick jackets while taking a look around the place.

As expected from a ski resort, the property was huge. There were three separate hotels to stay in, a miniature indoor water park, various restaurants, a place to golf, and of course, the mountains where all of the ski slopes were. To say the least, the place looked very expensive.

“I told you he was going to be late,” Jisung commented with his hands shoved as deep into the pockets of his coat as they could possibly go. For extra heat, he had pressed himself right up against Jeongin’s side. He looked all around the vicinity of where they stood but still came up short with spotting either Changbin or Felix.

“Hang on, I’m calling him,” Chan resolved as he pulled his phone out and dialed Changbin’s number before bringing it to his ear. It rang for a minute before finally he picked up. “Changbin. Hey, we’re here.”

“I sent Felix outside for you guys a while ago.”

Chan looked around once more, still not seeing his friend anywhere around. “No… he’s not here.”

“What? Did someone kidnap him?” Changbin asked with worry in his voice.

“Someone kidnapped Felix?” Jisung somehow overheard even though the call wasn’t on speakerphone. All at once he dropped his bag on the ground with a thud and broke out into a run in no specific direction while yelling Felix’s name in a panic.

“Wait! Hyung!” Jeongin tried to stop him, but he was already too far gone to hear. If it were for Felix, Jisung didn’t care how far or fast he had to run. “Now he’s going to be the one that gets lost,” he sighed heavily with his shoulders falling.

Stepping back, Seungmin studied the name on the front of the building they were at. After a second of reading it, it suddenly clicked. “Chan hyung, what exactly was the name of the hotel we were supposed to go to?”

“The resort hotel.” Changbin answered from the other line and let out a small laugh. “You’re at the one beside the welcome center, aren’t you?”

Walking over to where Seungmin was standing, Chan looked up at the specific name of the hotel plastered on the front. There had been two hotels at the resort with the same name. The only difference was the last part of it. They were at the suites when really they should have been at the neighboring hotel; the resort hotel.

It was an honest mistake on his part. Both hotels shared the same brand and were in very close proximity to one another. In the good news, it wasn’t but a short 5 minute walk to get to the correct lodging.

“We’ll be right there. Hopefully Jisung will too,” Chan smiled through the receiver before hanging up.

“We’ve only been here less than ten minutes and already Jisung is causing trouble,” Hyunjin joked as Minho reached down to grab the forsaken bag laying pitifully on the ground. He had fought the urge to merely leave it on the ground and tell Jisung to get it himself. “This vacation should be fun.”

The trip to the correct hotel was a short one, the group of 5 arriving in no time to see Felix standing outside with a whining Jisung clutched onto his front. If only he had waited one more minute he wouldn’t have had to run off in such a frenzy. He pulled away once he saw the rest of his friends approach them.

“Look guys, I found Felix! He’s safe!” Jisung happily announced with arms out towards their missing friend.

“Good job, Jisung,” Minho praised as he dumped both his and the younger boy’s bags into his outstretched arms. “Accept your prize from me.”

It was definitely punishment for making him carry both of their bags in the first place after taking off the way he did. Despite the group only staying for a couple days, the bags weren’t exactly on the lighter side of the spectrum. The giant pout on Jisung’s face made Jeongin giggle and nudge Minho in the side. He was definitely a fan of the older by this point in time. Especially with how it was so easy for Minho to mess with his friend.

“So I already have your keys,” Felix explained as he spread them out in his hands as if he were going to ask them to pick a card. Instead of doing so, he simply passed them out in order of who was going to be in what room. “We’ll meet in our room once you guys put your stuff up.”

With that, all of them headed inside and towards their designated rooms. The six of them resided on the same floor and were just down the hall from one another. Changbin and Felix on the other hand stayed on an upper level floor. The former was more than happy to figure out their type of room was further away from their rambunctious friends.

“Holy shit,” Jisung gaped as he let himself into their room first. The first thing he noticed was the open view of the mountains through the glass doors straight ahead. They had their own terrace equipped with chairs for lounging out on. Quickly he set the bags from his arms down onto the couch and went straight to the deck.

It was a bit cold, but he shrugged that off as he moved his eyes around the entirety of the view. He could clearly see the slopes and faint views of everyone skiing down them. He could only bet the view would be even prettier at night when it was all lit up.

“Which one are you going to go on?”

Chan appeared to his side a few moments later after setting his own bag down. It didn’t seem like a very high priority to actually unpack right now. The sudden view of everything was a lot more interesting anyways.

“The little one,” Jisung answered honestly. “I’ve never gone skiing before, so I don’t think I should go big. What about you?”

“I’ve been snowboarding a few times before, but I think I should start small too,” Chan admitted with a small laugh. He wasn’t bad at the sport, but he definitely thought he would need a refresher before taking on the big slope.

Minho leaned against the railing with his elbows to prop his face up on his hands. He too had never gone skiing before. He knew he'd had the opportunity to go before, but he couldn’t put his finger on why he’s never actually done it. After all, it looked like a lot of fun for those sliding down the slopes. Even small children were participating.

“Come on, let’s put our stuff away so we can get there quicker,” Chan suggested before heading back into the warm suite to unpack some of his things.

Minho on the other hand had strolled over to one of the two beds and jumped backwards onto it with his limbs spread all out. “This is going to be great having an entire bed to myself,” he breathed out with a smile. He glanced over at Chan who was next to the other bed. “You and Jisung are sharing, right?”

“Yeah, sure. I’ll cuddle Jisung,” Chan smirked as he finished putting his things away. He shuffled his way over to Jisung and wrapped his arms around the younger lovingly. “He’s not very warm, but that’s okay.” He didn’t mind sharing his body heat.

Jisung placed a cold hand on Chan’s neck, instantly feeling the heat radiating into his palm. He made his mouth into an o-shape before declaring, “oh, you’re much warmer than him. Yeah I’m definitely sleeping with you.”

Scoffing at the sight of them, Minho rolled off of the bed and headed to the door. He wouldn’t put it past them if he did manage to get his own bed tonight. “I’m sure you two will sleep very happily together. Let’s go up to Bin and Felix’s room. They’re probably waiting on us.”

“Or making out,” Jisung suggested in a joking manner as he trailed along behind the two elders.

  
  


By the time they had made it up to the room, everyone else had already made themselves as comfortable as possible in the posh suite. The room was fuming with the smell of money having been spent on it. Even though it was still in the same building as the rest of them, it was nearly twice the size of the others’ room. The terrace too exceeded in size. Nonetheless it was the perfect spot for all of them to gather at considering the space and vast seating arrangement around the suite.

“Daaaaaaamn, hyung,” Jisung exasperated as he looked around. It didn’t take long for him to feel a small punch on his arm from Jeongin. “Ow, I’m sorry- This place is just really decked out.” He winced as he gently rubbed his arm. He could always count on the younger to be a heavy hitter when it came to cussing in front of him.

“Again,” Changbin reminded from where he sat in the corner of the room in some cushioned chair. With the way he sat with his legs bent up to the side of him, the chair looked to be a bit too big for him. “I didn’t have any part in booking this.” To say the least, he was a bit embarrassed by the recent choices his parents had made without him. He just hoped none of them thought to even try to calculate the cost of everything.

Leaning in closer to Jisung’s ear Jeongin inconspicuously whispered, “there’s a jacuzzi in the bathroom, too.”

“There’s a what-“ Jisung whispered back a tad bit louder. Without a second thought, he slipped away from all of them to find the bathroom. Once inside, he ran over to the jacuzzi and ran his hands alongside the edges of it all. He wondered if it would be possible to sneak in here and use it at some point in time. It would be impossible to get in without the keycard, however.

“It’s nice isn’t it?” Felix’s voice called from behind Jisung suddenly, making him jump.

“God, I nearly peed myself. Don’t sneak up behind me like that,” Jisung narrowed his eyes at him with a hand over his palpitating heart.

“Well, I mean, this  _ is _ a bathroom so you can pee if you want,” Felix snickered.

“I can tell you’ve been hanging around Hyunjin and his bad jokes again,” Jisung shook his head. “I just wanted to check it out is all. I bet it would feel real nice after everything we do today.”

“You know the hotel has a hot tub on the ground floor, right?”

“I clearly know nothing about this place, but,” Jisung placed a hand on Felix’s shoulder with a smile. “Now I have plans for later,” he finished before he moved to rejoin the others. He stole the tight spot between the end of the couch and Jeongin, causing the latter to shoot him a soft glare and scoot over enough to where he wasn’t on top of him. Everyone had been in the middle of discussing the game plan for the day.

“I think we should have something small for lunch first, hit the slopes for awhile, and then have dinner afterwards,” Seungmin suggested. “We need some sort of energy to work off of and I know afterwards we’ll definitely be ready to eat again.

“I can’t argue with that logic,” Changbin shrugged simply. “We can split up afterwards or during if any of you want. It’s a vacation for all of us so we don’t need to be together all the time. At least we can just eat together.”

“We would have to anyways since everything is put under your room number,” Hyunjin brought up. “They might find it fishy if we all went separately.”

Changbin smiled at that. It didn’t seem like they knew the staff would know how many rooms or people were connected to one person. They would most likely check before allowing access to things, but that would be a piece of information to be saved until later. For the time being he would keep that to himself.

  
  


All of them ate together at one of the resort’s restaurants before making their way towards the slopes. The maknae line had run ahead, having a quick snowball fight session while the three eldest walked behind them at a slower pace. They figured they would be smart enough to not get rid of all their energy before even making it to skiing or snowboarding.

“You know,” Chan started as he watched Jisung throw a snowball straight at Hyunjin’s face, causing the long haired boy to practically jump on his assaulter and throw him into the snow. “I’m surprised Minho even came to this place.”

Minho, who was not at all interested in saving Jisung from Hyunjin’s wrath, gave Chan a confused look in response. “Why? Because it’s with Changbin?”

“You’re always in denial of our friendship, hyung,” Changbin huffed, kicking the snow in front of him.

“Sure, that too,” Chan waved a hand dismissively at the thought. He had been friends with Minho the longest out of everyone. It was basic knowledge to him of how the two younger boys acted together with other people around. He really wasn’t even sure why they kept up the act even with him. “But what I was thinking was, you’re scared of heights. So I thought it was a bit strange you were so chill about doing this.”

Minho clearly was not following where he was going. “But I’m going to be on the ground the entire time.”

Just then, Chan and Changbin simultaneously stopped walking and exchanged a look to one another. The telepathy going on between them was a bit unnerving to Minho to say the least. Moving his eyes in between the two of them, he searched for what it was they were saying.

“What are you two doing?”

“You didn’t think this through, did you?” Chan asked in the most delicate way that he could.

“Think what through? That it’s cold?”

Chan pulled an arm around the younger’s shoulders and slowly turned him until he was facing the ski lift that took people to the top of the slope. With an outstretched finger he gestured to the height of the ride.

“You forgot how people get to the top of the slope, didn’t you?”

Minho’s blood ran cold at the sudden realization. Yes, he had  _ completely _ forgotten the most obvious thing about skiing. You had to get on a ski lift in order to actually ski down the steep slope.  _ He _ would have to get on the ski lift. The thing that would take him to a height far beyond his area of comfort. How could he have forgotten something so obvious as that?

“Hyung…? Are you okay?”

Changbin leaned over to observe his face. The light pink that had previously decorated his cheeks from the cold weather had now vanished and been replaced with a complete lack of color.

“Minho?”

“That’s too high,” Minho suddenly mustered out with his eyes still fixated in fear on the metal chair contraption. “That’s way too high.”

Suddenly he regained control of his body and used that to try and backtrack the way they had come. It was only that Chan had been there to stop him by the shoulders before he got anywhere.

“Hey wait, where are you going?” Chan questioned even though the answer was pretty obvious.

“Away. Back to the room. I don’t know.” Minho shook his head, unsure himself. He was like a trapped animal trying to find its way out of something. “Hyung. I can’t get on that. I don’t like heights.”

“Hey!” Jisung loudly called from where the rest of them were at the equipment rental building. It was just before the entry of the ski lift. He kept his hands around his mouth to better project his voice so his friends could hear him at their distance from each other. “Are you old men coming today or what? You guys are slow!”

Changbin waved a hand at him, signaling to go ahead. “We’ll catch up with you at the top!” He yelled back.

“Okay! I’m stealing Felix from you then!” Jisung gave a thumbs up before moving to get his skis with everyone else.

“Jisung is going to make fun of me,” Minho voiced softly, a puff of hot air materializing from his mouth at the act. He didn’t like this. He didn’t like heights and he didn’t like the thought of Jisung laughing at him for not being able to get to the top. Right now he felt weak. Also something he didn’t like. Slowly he fell into a squat with his head hung low.

“Hey, come on. We’ll both be right beside you. You can sit in the middle of us,” Chan offered as he squatted beside him to put a comforting arm around him. He knew Minho had looked forward to actually going down the slopes and he didn’t want him to miss this chance. He was willing to give him all of the support he needed. “We won’t let you fall or anything like that. Just close your eyes and we’ll tell you when to get off. Okay? You can do this.”

Despite Chan’s complete support and encouraging words, Minho still couldn’t find the strength to react. He just stayed still, hugging his bent legs. It was as if his mind had gone into sleep-mode.

“You can hold my hand if you want,” Changbin offered to which Minho actually shot him a glare. Leave it to Changbin to always get a reaction out of him.

“I want to punch you.”

“You can punch me on the ski lift,” Changbin bargained with a smile. “I’ll allow it.”

Staying in his place for just a moment longer, Minho let out an uneven sigh and pushed himself forward towards the equipment rental building. He was going to do this. He wasn’t going to be the odd one out on the fun even if it meant facing his fears.

The trio stood in a horizontal line in wait for the next chair to come up behind them. Chan and Changbin stood on the outer sides, securing Minho in the middle of them. Minho clutched onto the ski poles in his hands with a death grip, trying to contain his shaking state. Even though he blamed it on the cold, the other two knew he was trying his best at keeping his cool.

The contact of the chair behind them startled Minho, causing his seating to be a little less than graceful. Both of his friends looped an arm into his own for more comfort as they lowered the safety bar down in front of them. Minho closed his eyes tightly and squeezed his friends’ arms closer to himself at the feeling of his skis leaving the ground.

The ride was going smoothly except for the fact that as time went on being up in the air, Minho only grew more anxious. How long was this ride supposed to be anyhow? Just when he thought it would be over with, he felt the lift come to a stop.

“Oh thank god, I can finally get o- WHAT THE FUCK!?”

Opening his eyes from thinking it was their turn to get off, he was instantly sent into a mild cardiac arrest by the sight of being stuck in the air high above the slopes. His brain started moving at a hundred miles per minute, his breathing becoming uneasy once more. It was a good thing that Chan and Changbin were both devout gym rats because if they had missed all of those arm days, Minho might have actually fractured a bone with the amount of force he was putting on the two of them.

“WHY ARE WE STUCK IN THE AIR?! DID IT BREAK?”

“Hey, hey, Minho, calm down,” Chan shushed as gently as possible. The squeaking of the chair from Minho’s frantic movements did nothing to calm the fearful boy. Chan swore he could feel the other’s erratic heartbeat even through the thick layer of their jackets. “Someone just probably couldn’t get on easily so they had to stop it for a second.”

“Close your eyes, hyung.”

Minho did the worst possible thing and looked directly down at where they hung, causing him to jump in his seat with a shriek and shake the chair even more. He swore he was going to have a heart attack right there. This was definitely a raw side of him that neither of his two friends were used to seeing.

“No! Don’t look down! Don’t look down. Calm down so you don't shake the chair. That’s only going to make it worse if you do,” Changbin explained as he pat his shoulder gently with his free hand. “You’re okay. You’re not going to fall.”

Chan reached his gloved hand over and rested it over Minho’s eyes so he couldn’t see anymore. It seemed to calm him down only a fraction of the way but it was a lot better than nothing. Surely enough the lift jolted back into action again and continued bringing them up to the drop off.

“Okay, we’re about to get off so you can open your eyes now,” Chan informed after a short while later as he lifted the safety bar from in front of them.

Opening one eye at a time, Minho allowed himself to look at where they were at. They were a lot closer to ground at this point. Within the next 30 seconds they would have to jump down.

Chan left the chair first, landing softly down on the snow below him. He held his hand out for Minho to follow suit. “You’ll have to ride it again if you don’t jump off now.”

At the sound of those words, Minho flung himself off of the chair and clutched onto Chan for support as he knew his shaky legs wouldn’t hold him up. Thankfully Chan wrapped his arms around him the second he landed to keep him upright and Minho fell straight into them, seeking all the comfort he could get.

At the sound of a soft thud, Minho looked over to see Changbin planted on his butt beside them. He wouldn't ever admit it, but he had purposely messed up his landing just to make Minho crack a laugh at him.

“That hurt a little more than expected,” Changbin admitted through a wince as he tried to get himself up. Minho, being the kind hyung that he was, generously helped him up by his elbow.

“Hey guys?” Minho asked in a bit of a timid voice before they got to really moving. The sudden change in his voice caught the full attention of his two friends, causing them to halt. “By chance… could we… could we keep this whole thing a secret?”

“You’re going to have to be a little more specific, hyung,” Changbin started, leaning with his hands on top of his ski poles. “Which part are we keeping a secret? The part where you wouldn’t get on the lift or the part where you screamed like a little girl?”

Narrowing his eyes, Minho smacked Changbin in the butt with one of his own poles. “The part where I push you down the mountain,” he threatened.

“Oh?” Changbin perked up with a toothy smile, showing off his pointy canine tooth. “You’ll give me a push? Wow, thanks, hyung~ I knew I could always count on you.”

“God I hate you. Come here,” Minho huffed as he unskillfully moved to the start of one of the slopes as best as he could in his snow skis. He pulled Changbin behind him. “Be free and far, far away from me,” he cheered before shoving Changbin down the slope.

Chan slid to a stop beside Minho and put an arm around his shoulder. “Don’t worry, he’s not going to tell anyone anything. But by the way, Jisung doesn’t know about your fear of heights? What else doesn’t he know?”

“That I can’t swim either…” Minho muttered, ashamed of himself for keeping his secrets. He absentmindedly twisted one of his poles further into the snow.

“I think… that one may be a bit important,” Chan pulled his mouth into a thin line. He’d hate to see Jisung accidentally harm him because he didn’t know some things such as this.

“It’s embarrassing,” Minho looked at him pathetically.

“Ohhh Minho,” Chan pat his head with a sigh as he wrapped his arms around him lovingly. The good thing about Chan was that he always gave the best hugs when someone needed them. “You need help. But it’s a good thing that you have the best hyung,” he winked. “Come on, we should probably catch up to Changbin down there. You know, in case he accidentally hit a tree on his way down or something.”

“Oh my god, you’re right,” Minho blinked before fixing his gear into place and pushing off without a second thought despite not knowing how to actually ski. It couldn’t be that hard, right? All he had to do was keep himself straight while balancing. He could do that. He just needed to make sure the possibility of Changbin getting hurt by himself didn’t happen.

He went down slowly at first, not quite certain of how to change direction with his skis. Thankfully he had Chan at his side to instruct him as best he could. Even though the elder was on a snowboard, he still knew the basics of how to ski. 

In no time they saw the familiar figure of Changbin in his distinctive light pink winter jacket. The boy was sliding through the snow effortlessly, weaving through people without a care in the world.

“Since when was he such a good skier?” Minho asked, though the wind blew the sound of his voice away before it could ever reach Chan’s ears. “Changbin actually looks kind of cool like this.” He found himself smiling fondly at his friend, happy for the fact that no one could hear his praise. In actuality, he was really grateful for Changbin. They had their quarrels, but still Changbin was out here with Chan helping him stay calm and enjoy their vacation. If he could help it, he’d rather keep the majority of those thoughts to himself. He had a reputation to uphold, after all.

“Changbin!” Chan yelled in an attempt to get him to hear his name. When the younger was seemingly unaware of his friends behind him, Chan waved to Minho saying to give him a minute before picking up speed to catch up to the skier.

Chan made his way beside Changbin and waved an arm out to him to make him take notice of his presence. He gestured back towards Minho before the two of them slowed down so they could all three move together.

  
  


At the bottom of the slope, they met the rest of their friends loitering around in wait for them. Jisung was squatted down on his skis with his arms shielding his face from the oncoming snowballs being thrown at him by the rest of his friends. Traditionally onlookers might see this as bullying, but the hyungs knew Jisung too well and figured he might have done something to deserve it.

“Alright, alright,” Minho said, sliding to Jisung’s side to put a halt in the tormenting. “What did he do this time?”

An accidental; as Hyunjin would call it, snowball was launched straight into the side of Minho’s head. Minho knew it was no where close to an accident since Jisung was on a much lower level than himself, but he let it slide anyways with a small glare. He was a nice guy like that.

“What do you mean, ‘this time’?” Jisung asked, furrowing his brows up at Minho. “I’m not a troublemaker.”

“Ah, hyung. He didn’t do anything except lose the bet,” Jeongin explained. “Whoever came in last would have to get pelted by snowballs.”

“But since we’re all together now we can do it again,” Seungmin suggested. “It’s fun with more people.”

“Let’s make our own bet,” Changbin whispered to Chan where the others couldn’t hear. “50,000₩ says hyung won’t go up with Jisung this time either.”

“Deal,” Chan said before shaking Changbin’s hand to seal it. This was about to be the easiest money he’s ever made. He had a strong belief in Minho’s abilities. And maybe even more so in his own.

As the group was heading back towards the ski lift, Jisung hung towards the back with Minho. Chan and Changbin simultaneously moved off to the side and inconspicuously listened in on them without watching.

“I was only last because I waited for you at the top,” Jisung mumbled as he drug his skis over the snow in dejection. “You never showed up and the others wouldn’t wait on me.”

Though he tried to conceal it, there was still the sound of being upset in his voice and Minho heard it as clear as day. Minho bit his lower lip softly in between his teeth as he tried to figure out what to say. The last thing he wanted to do was admit his fears, but what was he supposed to do this time at the ski lift?

“I’m sorry,” Minho genuinely apologized. The image of Jisung waiting for him and being disappointed in him not showing up worked its way harshly at his heart. Jisung was definitely the type to wait so patiently and energetically for someone and it made Minho’s absence even worse. Gently he took up Jisung’s gloved hand in his own and swung it back and forth slowly. He was going to have to make up for that one despite him not thinking he would be able to handle it.

“The reason for that…” he began only to have his words trail off before he could finish. He could make up some lie about Chan being a slow old man and causing them to be behind so many people in line to get on the lift. It would be too easy and Jisung would most likely believe him with no questions asked. But he knew that wasn’t right. Not when Jisung was so disheartened like this. He had to be honest.

“I’m scared of heights.”

Jisung looked up at him with a curious look on his face, requesting he continue.

Minho sighed deeply with his shoulders slouching in the process as he continued. “I forgot all about the ski lift. I didn’t want to go on it at all. So it took me a little bit of time to get some courage and let Chan hyung and Changbin drag me up on it. Even then I freaked out…” he reluctantly admitted, eyeing Jisung from the side for a reaction. “Don't laugh.”

Suddenly a smile crept onto Jisung’s face. “So you do have a side of you like that.” Nearly stumbling over, he dodged an attempted smack to his arm. “Hey, I wasn’t laughing! I was just thinking how nice it was for you to have some human qualities after all,” he joked as he held Minho’s hand once more, now serious. “But… are you really fine with getting on it again?”

“I hope so.”

Changbin watched them from the side, slowly growing worried in losing his own bet. He couldn’t be the one to lose after orchestrating it. He shuffled over to Felix whispering his name to get his attention.

“Felix! Feli-“

Chan swooped an arm around Changbin’s shoulders to cover his mouth with his hand. Felix looked back at them in confusion but Chan merely just hugged Changbin closer to him. “He just loves saying your name,” he explained with an innocent smile.

Changbin had other plans with waving his hands in front of him, trying to convey that that wasn’t what this was about. He quickly pointed at him then to Jisung and finally to the ski lift, hoping he got the memo.

“He says he wants nothing more than to get on the ski lift with you and Jisung will be just fine with Minho,” Chan inaccurately translated.

“Awe, Binnie, of course we can ride together~” Felix cooed as he came over and took one of Changbin’s arms in his own. Changbin in turn shot the elder a glare before being pulled away towards the line for the ski lift.

  
  


**Changbin**

@spearb

I will remember this.

**Chan** @cbang

So will I 🥰

  
  


The second time around on the ski lift was hardly any easier for Minho to manage. The entire time he had a death grip on Jisung’s hand. Jisung was ever grateful for the padding in their gloves combined to lessen the pain. It was just enough to get him through the hellish ride and still be able to hold his ski poles. Nonetheless, Jisung still made every bit of effort to make Minho feel safe and secure with him.

The rest of the skiing time went by quickly, wearing out the group of friends. Jeongin had been the one to finish last during their bet, but no one had the heart to go through with the punishment. No matter how funny it may have been, they couldn’t attack their youngest with snowballs. Not even Jisung could pull himself to do anything except halfheartedly throw one at his arm. Such was the Jeongin effect.

Without a doubt they all became on the same page of wanting to go back and get some dinner at the resort’s hotel. They had been so active for some hours now and needed to restore themselves with good, warm food. It was only until after the dinner that everyone split apart and went to wherever they wanted to go around the resort.

  
  


After much whining, Jisung finally convinced Minho to come with him to the indoor pool area that was located on the ground floor. Minho simply didn’t want to go just because he couldn’t swim, but when Jisung said he just wanted to sit in the hot tub, Minho brought up that other people might already be in there. Jisung compromised to at least let him check. If there were any people there, they could leave. Simple as that.

When they made it into the room, they found that it was not empty as they would have hoped, but it wasn’t crowded either. On the pool side of the spectrum, there were only a few people in their early twenties and two small children with their parents. As for the vacancy of the hot tub went, there were two bodies already occupying it. Minho immediately took note of this and spun on his heel until he was facing the door. Jisung stopped him before he could reach the handle and yanked him towards the hot tub.

“Jisung- what are you- Oh.”

Minho stopped fighting to get away once he was just a few feet away from the two guys, noticing who it was.

“Don’t you have the fancy jacuzzi in your room?” Minho crossed his arms with an eyebrow raised.

Changbin looked up at him with a small shrug. With the way he was leaned back with both arms out across the edge on the hot tub with Felix’s back against one, it was obvious he didn’t have a care in the world. He was too far into tranquility to be riled by anything his friend had to say. “It’s not the same experience.” He waved his free hand through the bubbling water, letting the jets move it around even more. “This is bigger, it’s a nice temperature, and there’s more jets.”

Jisung had already discarded his shirt on top of where he saw Changbin and Felix’s laying and was in the process of dipping his foot into the water. The sudden hot contact was a shock for him but nonetheless he slid his way through until he sat on the opposite end of his friends.

“Ooooooh heeeell yes,” Jisung gasped as he moved down even lower so the water would be up to his neck. “Baby, come in. It’s niiiiice. We can be like the four guys sitting six feet apart in a hot tub because we’re not gay.”

Minho deadpanned at him, deciding in the end to not respond to that and to just join them. He didn’t miss the less than inconspicuous smirk on Changbin’s face. “What’s wrong with you?”

“Nothing. I just think Jisung is funny,” Changbin claimed nonchalantly as he watched the one in question stretch his legs out to try and plank himself on both ends of the bench but failed due to being too short. Felix scooted to the edge of the bench so Jisung could prop his feet up on Felix’s knees.

“ _ Thank you, _ hyung,” Jisung heartfeltly smiled. “You know, Hyunjin always tells me I’m not humorous. But really I think he’s the one with the bad jokes. I don’t see how Seungmin deals with him.”

“I’m not sure I know how you deal with hyung,” Changbin admitted with a devious look towards Minho. “He’s always so aggressive,” he provoked before pausing to think. “Or… is that just a front you put up and really you’re super soft?”

“Of course he’s soft,” Felix chimed in. “He’s like a kitten.”

“Me? Soft? Never,” Minho spit out in a laugh.

“Then what was that time Channie hyung and I came in and you were crying in a pillow because Jisung went to eat with Binnie?”

Jisung shot his face around to look at Minho with surprised eyes. “What? You cried over that?”

“I wasn’t  _ crying, _ ” Minho glared at him to be quiet about that. The fact that he had even been pouting as much as he was had been kept a secret for so long. “At least I wasn’t constantly playing sad music and staring into the void because the guy I liked wouldn’t approach me because I was scary looking.”

Changbin blinked at the sudden attack on him. It was Felix who had called him out, not him. All he said was that he was soft. No specifics had been brought up. “Oh, you want to go there?” He raised a brow as he awaited an answer.

Minho looked away, suddenly quiet. “Nope. I didn’t say anything.”

The only people he had allowed to see him looking so beaten down about the entire fiasco with Jisung had been Changbin and Chan. Neither of the two had ever disclosed that time to anyone and Minho would greatly prefer it being kept that way.

“I wanted to go there,” Jisung frowned slightly, earning himself a quick nudge to the side from Minho as a way to tell him don’t start. “Ow, what? I have curious needs too.”

“Since  _ you _ wanted to go there…” Felix cleared his throat as he leaned forward to look at Minho. “Hyung, one night when I had already gone to sleep, Jisung came sleepwalking to my bed thinking I was you.”

“What?” Jisung asked with his voice cracking. “How do you know I thought you were him? When did I ever sleepwalk apart from that one time?”

“A week after the party. I knew it was towards him because you kept whining saying,  _ baby, I’m cuter than the cats, cuddle me too _ .”

All at once Minho and Changbin broke into laughter at the thought. Jisung on the other hand slowly sunk down lower into the water until he was completely under the surface. Minho only allowed him to stay that way for a few seconds before he fished his way around the water trying to find Jisung’s armpits and pulling him back up by them. He didn’t like the way he couldn’t see him under the surface even if he knew Jisung was well and capable enough to get up himself.

“Agh! You know what, Felix, come here. Let’s go.” Jisung challenged, standing up and attempting to lift Felix out of the water. The cooler air of not being engulfed in the warm water hit their exposed skin instantly, but at the moment he didn’t care.

“What are you doing?” Felix asked as he let himself be lifted out of the hot tub. Jisung had only made it halfway to the pool before it hit him. “Wait! Wait! No, it’s going to be so cold!” In the midst of his struggling, Jisung too was propelled into the much colder water belonging to the pool.

Minho anxiously watched until the two shot back up to the surface. He felt himself sigh in relief without realizing he was holding his breath. Even though he knew the other two could swim, there was just something in him that made him panic.

“They’re fine,” Changbin assured.

“I know that,” Minho huffed softly. He watched the two boys go from arguing to laughing at each other and playing around. Once his anxiety settled, his eyes moved back to Changbin and slowly he slid over beside him. 

Changbin watched him curiously. He could read a slight uneasiness in his expression and wondered the reason for it.

“I’ll only say this once, so listen well.”

“Okay.”

“I know that I can be rude sometimes-“

“Sometimes?” Changbin asked suddenly, laughing shortly after. “No, I’m sorry, continue.”

Minho sighed, visibly deflating. “I’m trying to be nice here,” he murmured before kicking a leg against the water in defeat. “Never mind.”

“No, no, I’ll be quiet. Go on. You have my full attention,” Changbin said and propped an arm up on the edge of the tub so he could watch Minho without an ounce of distraction.

Minho rolled his eyes at him before letting himself restart. “As I was saying, I know I’m mean to you  _ a lot _ , but I wanted to let you know that especially recently I’m really grateful to you. I didn’t get to say it earlier while skiing.”

Changbin leaned closer to him to try and smell if there was any alcohol on his breath. Minho leaned back way from him, thinking he wanted a kiss or something before Changbin asked, “did you go to the bar before coming here? You know you shouldn’t be intoxicated while using this thing.”

“No, I just thought this might be a good time to get it out. You know, since they’re both over there in their own little world.” Minho pointed out, glancing over at the two who had somehow gotten themselves into a beach ball game with the other people in the pool. “I know I don’t say it enough but I also don’t want you to ever think I actually hate you or something. You’ve been a lot of help to me. Really you helped me a lot with the ski lift thing. I really was scared, but you stayed there with me and had me calm down. It didn’t sit well with me that I didn’t thank you back then. I just pushed you down the mountain. And then Chan hyung had me worried thinking you might hit a tree.”

“What?” Changbin flinched at the last part. “You were worried about me?  _ Me _ ?” He stuck a finger in his ear, trying to see if he had water lodged in there to make him hear him incorrectly.

“I care about you a lot, believe it or not,” Minho said with a look of honesty. “I don’t actually want to see you get hurt. I was relieved to see you doing so well with skiing.” He looked away in favor of watching the water move around them. “You looked really cool…”

Changbin watched him for a moment as a giant smile spread across his face. The next moment he was crushing Minho in a tight hug. It was very seldom that they had these sorts of moments between them these days but he ate up every bit of it that he could take.

“Don’t worry. You don’t have to say those things for me to know. I’m just happy that I can help you even though I know how much you don’t like receiving it.”

He attempted to pull away from him before Minho could complain about the contact. It caught him off guard when he felt Minho actually hug him back. Changbin thought he might actually cry. He hoped that everyone in the pool room was still minding their own business so he could stay like this for just a few more seconds.

“We’re always going to be best friends. And it would be unbearable if we couldn’t annoy each other like we do. I can’t do it to anyone else.” Changbin thought. “Well, I go at it sometimes with Jisung, but it’s not the same. He doesn’t bite back as hard as you do.”

Minho breathed out a beat of a laugh before finally pulling away and sending a small wave to hit Changbin’s chest to change the mood. “Okay, enough of that. It’s out and we’re good,” he settled as he put a few centimeters of distance back in between the two of them.

“One last thing and we’ll be good,” Changbin added with a finger in the air as an interjection. “Cause you know, best friends shouldn’t keep secrets from each other,” he smiled. “Hyung and I bet on you.”

“Bet on me for what? Why are my best friends betting on me?”

“Correction:  _ bet _ ,” Changbin clarified. “We  _ bet _ on you. And you should be happy to know that I lost 50,000₩ because hyung wouldn’t let me cheat.”

“Are you going to enlighten me or…?”

“I bet that you wouldn’t get on the ski lift with Jisung. I even tried to get Felix to make sure he got on with him instead but Chan hyung covered my mouth and started saying other things before I had a chance to.” Changbin crossed his arms over his chest in annoyance at the memory. “I could have won if it hadn’t been for that…”

Minho stared at him for what felt like an eternity before finally scoffing and splashing Changbin in the face. “I really can’t stand you sometimes. And after all of that... I don’t even know why you’re down here right now. Don’t you have better plans?”

“How do you expect us to do anything when we just got back from skiing? I know we’re both fit, but we have our endurance limits too.”

“Get creative with your jacuzzi.”

Changbin folded his arms across his chest in thought at that as he observed the hot tub. It seemed like his friend had something with that one.

Minho’s mouth formed a thin line as he tried his best to not let anything process in his mind. After a moment, he turned and crawled straight out of the hot tub. He did nothing to acknowledge the words coming out of Changbin’s mouth before heading straight to the towel rack.

“Ah, hyung~ Why are you suddenly leaving?” Changbin called from where he was still planted. He snickered to himself as Minho continued to ignore him in favor of drying off. It wasn’t even like this was their first time having a discussion of this topic before.

“Jisung,” Minho made his way to the edge of the pool and kicked up some water at him to get his attention. He immediately backed up out of reach when Jisung wadded towards him. “Come,” he invited, holding a fresh towel spread out in his arms for Jisung to walk into.

Jisung didn’t have a second thought about jumping out of the water and almost running to Minho’s arms that wrapped around him with the towel. He had been careful about his movements since with his emergence the pool came water spilling all over the tile beneath them. Just like a child he let Minho wipe him down with the towel and ruffle out his wet hair.

Minho draped the towel around Jisung’s shoulders for the time being so that he could go back and retrieve their discarded shirts by the hot tub.

“Don’t forget to conserve water,” Changbin whispered to him with a wink. “It takes a lot to get chlorine out of hair.”

“I never got my hair wet,” Minho pointed out as he slipped his own shirt on.

“But Jisung~” Changbin sang. “I can even get Seungmin to stall hyung even longer.”

Minho rolled his eyes at him. “Don’t forget that we’re all supposed to eat together. So don’t do something that makes you miss breakfast.”

“I might not be hungry in the morning.”

“Goodnight, Changbin!” Minho waved, excusing himself from his friend and moving out with Jisung. He kept an arm around his back, not allowing Jisung room to try and stay.

  
  


By the time they got back to their room, Chan was still missing. He would most likely be out for another hour as he was out looking for constellations with Seungmin. Maybe it would be longer if Changbin actually did as he suggested. It was a great place to see them with the sky being so clear in the mountains. They most likely went someplace away from the hotel to see them.

Minho couldn’t help but to think about Changbin’s suggestion as he sat on the bed, watching as Jisung shifted through his bag for his pajamas. The boy had never unpacked like he was supposed to; he merely sat his bag down and forgot about it. Minho doubted Jisung would even be fine with the idea. Not to mention, this was also Chan’s room. But then again, it wasn’t like they were going to do anything bad. He played with his hands in thought before finally deciding to speak.

“Hey, Jisung?”

Jisung raised his head as he pulled the zipper to his bag closed.

“Do you want help?”

Jisung furrowed his brows in confusion, not understanding what he was talking about. “I already found my clothes,” he explained, holding up his pajamas in one hand.

“No, not that,” Minho shook his head. “With uh… no, never mind,” he decided, rubbing his face with his palms. He couldn’t even get it out. This was unlike him.

Watching him for a second, Jisung stepped over to him. He was getting a lot better with hearing things that were never said. “Is it fine for you to wash my hair?” He was smiling softly. “You really want to? Will you dress me too?”

“W-what are you saying?” Minho asked, suddenly embarrassed now that someone has said it out loud. He knew he should have never listened to Changbin. “I didn’t say anything.”

“There’s nothing else to help me with. I knew that’s what you meant. It’s just washing hair,” Jisung shrugged.

Minho blinked in response. It was now that he realized how much of his confidence had rubbed off on Jisung. Maybe that’s why he felt like his own had decreased. His shy baby was visibly fading away now and he missed him already. Taking Jisung’s hand, Minho walked with him into the bathroom and locked the door behind them.

“I’m just washing your hair,” Minho clarified as he stepped into the shower behind Jisung. “Nothing else. This isn’t our own room.”

“You’re dressing me too,” Jisung reminded. Closing his eyes, he moved directly under the water to get his hair plenty wet for it to be shampooed. He then relinquished all control to Minho.

Minho coated his palm in the apple-scented shampoo before rubbing his hands together and working it into Jisung’s hair gently. He felt the younger let out a pleased sigh at the feeling of him using his nails to really cover the basis of his roots.

“Are you a dog now?” Minho asked, massaging behind Jisung’s ears. “Did the squirrel boy turn into a dog?”

“It feels goooooood,” Jisung sang. “Playing with my hair is one thing, but this beats that easily.”

Minho chuckled at that and guided Jisung to stick his head under the water again so he could rinse it all out. He pulled him back and went to conditioning it.

The entire time Jisung was quiet and easily moved by Minho as if he were under some sort of spell. Minho made a mental note of the trick to getting Jisung to be silent. He rinsed Jisung’s hair out for the last time, running his fingers all through it to make sure the conditioner was all gone. Before he could reach around to turn the water off, Jisung turned around to place his hands lightly on Minho’s shoulders and pull him under the water before giving him a short kiss as thanks.

Without a word, Jisung reached a hand over to turn the water off himself and slide the glass door of the shower open to step onto the shower mat. Minho washed the chlorine out of his hair so that was it. They dried themselves off and hung up the towels to dry before Minho got himself dressed.

Jisung on the other hand had been waiting patiently to the side for Minho to be finished with himself. It was amazing to Minho of the drastic change Jisung has undergone. Not that long ago he had been so shy with being in just his underwear. Now, Jisung didn’t seem to have any sort of shame in showing himself to Minho. There was nothing to do in bringing back the bashful attitude so Minho just had to move along with it.

“Okay, you big baby,” Minho cooed as he came over with Jisung’s clothes. He crouched down in front of him before instructing, “one foot. Two foot.” Jisung pressed his hands on Minho’s head so he wouldn’t fall over. “One foot again. Two foot again.” Standing back up he raised his arms above his head and said, “arms up!”

Obediently Jisung lifted his arms straight above his head so Minho could slip his shirt over him in one quick motion. Once the shirt was on him, he brought his arms back down and around Minho’s waist lovingly. He rested his chin on the older’s shoulder and hummed softly and contently.

“Are you a dress up doll now?”

“I’m your baby,” Jisung corrected. “You have to take care of your baby or they’ll cry.”

“You’re a very needy baby,” Minho murmured, brushing out Jisung’s slick hair slightly with his fingers. “Come here, stand over here,” he said as he moved Jisung to stand in front of the counter. He got the hair dryer out and turned it on to blow dry Jisung’s hair. If he were going to wash his hair and dress him, he might as well finish the job.

He had Jisung leaned up against the counter as he worked a brush in one hand and hairdryer in the other. It was a bit fun for him to groom Jisung’s hair like this. The way Jisung stood so patiently with his eyes closed as he listened to the whirring of the hair dryer made Minho’s heart perform flips in his chest. Just to get rid of the butterflies, he playfully pointed the hair dryer directly at Jisung’s face. This caused him to squint his eyes open and swat away at the air. Perhaps it wasn’t the best way to rid Minho’s butterflies since the act was still unbelievably cute to him. As an apology, Minho pecked Jisung’s cheek and turned the blow dryer to a lower setting.

Once done, Jisung swapped places with him and returned the favor. It was now that Minho understood the feeling of having someone do this for him too. Jisung placed the hairdryer back on the wall when Minho’s hair was all dry and fluffed it out with his fingers. “Have you ever thought about dying your hair?”

“To what?”

“I don’t know…” Jisung played around with it before suggesting, “a ginger color maybe? Something firery. I think it would suit your personality well.”

“What are you trying to say about me?” Minho asked with squinted eyes.

“I think it would look hot,” Jisung shrugged.

“I’ll think about it,” Minho decided before pushing off against the counter. “Right now, I’m heading to bed,” he yawned as he exited the bathroom and crawled into his claimed bed.

Jisung tiptoed shortly after to the side of the bed Minho was laying on and lightly shook his arm. “Hey baby?” Really there was no reason for tiptoeing in the first place if he was already awake.

Minho slowly opened his eyes and turned to look at him tiredly. “What is it?”

“Were you being serious about wanting the bed to yourself? Because if so, I know Chan hyung won’t mind me sharing.”

Minho let out a soft chuckle and turned back over so he was facing the middle of the bed. “I’m not supposed to keep myself warm, am I?”

Jisung jumped at that. Without bothering to walk to the other side of the bed, he merely crawled over Minho and slid in under the covers with him. Instantly he shrunk drastically in size as he nuzzled up against Minho’s chest. He melted at the touch of Minho sweeping his fingers through his hair to get them out of his face before planting a soft kiss on his forehead.

“You are warm,” Jisung whispered gently before letting himself drift off to sleep. He could sleep so much better at night when he had the reassuring weight of Minho beside him. The two of them were dead to the world by the time Chan made his way back to the room.

  
  


**Chan**

@cbang

🥺 that’s adorable

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You guys still awake after all of that?
> 
> I can’t even begin to tell you how much research I did on ski resorts in Korea over the past few weeks. It’s all my browser history is composed of right now along with, “is Cinnamoroll a puppy?” By the way, my whole life is a lie just because of that.
> 
> Anyways! Gosh I had so much going on in this chapter! I really hope it wasn’t too cluttered for you guys. The goal is to end this with Chapter 40 and imma be real, it’s still not done yet. But I know it’s about to be even longer than this chapterrrr...
> 
> I’m so attached to this story and so sad to see it come to an end so I’m stressing real hard on pulling everything together and ending it nicely. If next chapter is late somehow, don’t worry, I’m not dead, just stalling (: (:  
> *But somehow I’m still coming up with ideas for the next story that’s already planned...
> 
> As always, please feel free to leave your comments/thoughts/concerns below~ I love reading them and they really get me crying a little bit because of how touched I am from them all.
> 
> I will see you- hopefully next Monday with the last chapter (´°̥̥̥̥̥̥̥̥ω°̥̥̥̥̥̥̥̥｀) don’t mind me sweating from my eyes over it


	40. Chapter 40

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 185,000 words total bb~~~ ☆〜（ゝ。∂）
> 
> Would you believe me if I said I wouldn’t stop writing until I was sure I would be on the first page for highest word count in the SKZ fandom on here? My GOD I did not think it would be over 15k words. The first time I finished writing this chapter I think I was at, what, 13k? I just kept tweaking it instead of ever posting it.
> 
> But no, I was so stuck on this chapter and then I kept reading it over and over and over again, changing and adding details to wherever I saw fit. I’m in such denial that this story is over. Last chapter who? I don’t know them. I already have withdrawals from this story. But all good things come to an end, no?
> 
> I rEALLY did not want to let you guys down with this chapter. I’m still really sorry about it being a week late. I just didn’t think I could post it and expect people to like it. I still have a feeling people will think, “boo! Give us a better ending! [or more!]” Dang, I really did drag myself to heck and back trying to get this into a post-worthy state... ＿|￣|○
> 
> I tried to fit in as many things that I couldn’t before. I wanted this to end on a good note where everything feels accomplished in a sense. I hope I did just that.
> 
> So, without further ado... the last chapter of New Kids. Please enjoy ｡ﾟ(ﾟ´ω`ﾟ)ﾟ｡

* * *

  
“Is he dead?”

“No,” Seungmin let out a small huff with his arms folded in front of him. “This is just how it usually is when you try to wake him up.”

It was a quarter until 8am and Hyunjin was still knocked out cold. Seungmin and Jeongin had been trying to shake him awake for 5 minutes now to get him up for breakfast. They were supposed to all be downstairs by 8 and Hyunjin was proving to cut that close. The boy was halfway laying on his side, the other half on his back and there was a small trail of drool spilling from the side of his partially open mouth. His hair was a complete mess while pressed against the pillow. To say the least, he was in a _deep_ sleep.

The two youngest were slowly running out of time and needed to get him up. Seungmin already knew it would take him at least ten minutes to get himself ready. At this point he would have to help Hyunjin get ready himself so they could make it on time.

  
  
  


**Pabbit and the Seven Dwarves**

  
  


( Good morning 🌞 )

( Everyone awake? )

  
  


**Channie hyung**

( We’re almost ready )

  
  


**Seungmong 🐶**

( We’re still working on getting Sleeping Beauty to wake up 😓 )

  
  


**Jeonginnie**

( I have never seen someone sleep so hard in my life before and I’ve been friends with Jisung hyung for years 😳 )

  
  


**The Cheesecake Factory**

( Let me in there 😋 I’ll get him up )

  
  


**Best Friend 🐈**

( You’re not even dressed yet. Get off your phone )

  
  


( Hyunjin still isn’t up? )

  
  


**Seungmong 🐶**

( Don't worry, hyung! We’ll be there 😊 )

( Just give us a few minutes )

  
  


( 👍 )

  
  
  


Jeongin was already climbing on the opposite bed that Hyunjin was laying on and steadied himself at the top of it. Seungmin raised a brow at him but didn’t seem like he had any objections to his plan. He simply stood back to the foot of the bed and watched as Jeongin flung himself onto the sleeping Hyunjin.

“Wake up!”

Hyunjin bolted upright with a loud groan at the contact of Jeongin falling onto him. Jeongin moved into a seated position beside him and watched as Hyunjin doubled over in pain.

“What the heck?! What was that for?” Hyunjin winced as he held his stomach, flopping back over onto his side.

“You wouldn’t wake up and you’re about to make us late to breakfast,” Jeongin explained with no hint of sympathy in his voice.

“Ugh… what time is it even?”

“It’s almost 8,” Seungmin answered, looking at the clock placed on the nightstand between the two beds. “We have about 10 minutes to get downstairs.”

Hyunjin pulled his pillow over his head to try and block out the light. “Please let me sleep… I’m so tired…”

Jeongin snatched the pillow away from him and beat him on the butt with it. “Get. Up. Hyung.” He said, hitting him between each word.

Seungmin moved over to grab Hyunjin by his armpits and drug him out of the bed. He knew if he didn’t get him physically up himself, he wouldn’t ever get up. “Come on, Jinnie. We don’t have time to lay around. You can do that later,” he promised as he continued to drag him towards the bathroom. It was a surprisingly easy task considering the way Hyunjin was being dead weight in his hold.

“You can go on ahead, Innie,” Seungmin offered. “I’ll take it from here.”

“Are you sure?” Jeongin asked and got a nod in response. “Alright, don’t let him win. I’ll see you down there with everyone else,” he waved before heading out.

“Ahhhhh, Seungminnieeee~” Hyunjin whined as he sat on the bathroom floor, lightly smacking Seungmin’s leg. “Let me go back to sleep, hmmm? I’m tired. Oh I’m so tired,” he cried as he rubbed his eyes harshly. He tried to lay down again but the other stopped him.

“No, Hyunjin.” Seungmin pulled him up until he was standing and held lightly onto his cheeks so he could look him in the eyes. “Changbin hyung said the only thing we’re required to do is eat together. Do you really want to upset him over some sleep?”

Hyunjin looked down at the tiles, pouting his lower lip out. “No…” he admitted softly. He didn’t want to make Changbin upset because he didn’t show up to eat. He was being extremely lenient with everything else so how could he dismiss this one thing he asked?

“Good,” Seungmin said softly as he rubbed his thumbs against Hyunjin’s cheeks. “So you’ll hurry up and get ready then?”

Sighing, he waved a lazy arm to Seungmin signaling him to leave.

“What?”

“Get out, I have to pee.”

“Okay, but I’m coming back in in a minute to make sure you’re ready on time,” Seungmin informed before heading to where Hyunjin’s things were.

Just as he said, Seungmin came back into the bathroom with a change of clothes for Hyunjin. “Here, this way if you do want to go back to sleep after you eat, these will be comfortable enough for you to lay down in.”

Hyunjin couldn’t help but to smile softly at the thoughtfulness in picking out his clothes. After getting changed into them Hyunjin pulled his hoodie’s hood over his head and stuffed his hands into the pockets. He liked the way he felt so cozy in the outfit. If he had the chance, he would probably fall back asleep right there. But Seungmin took him by the elbow and led him out the room so they could meet everyone for breakfast.

  
  


“This is so strange…” Jisung whispered to Felix, who was sitting beside him. “Have you ever seen him so quiet before?”

Felix and Jisung were curiously observing Hyunjin’s less than energetic state at the other corner of the table in an even less inconspicuous way. It was painfully obvious that he was not a morning person by the way he had his head rested on Seungmin’s shoulder. At least he made it to breakfast.

“You should take notes, Han,” Hyunjin murmured with his eyes still closed. Surprisingly he had not actually fallen back asleep like the two had thought. “You’re always so noisy.”

Jeongin spit out a small laugh at that, accidentally spilling some of his drink on himself in the process. Thankfully it was just water so he could just dab his shirt dry. “No, I’m sorry. It was just that was kind of true,” he apologized, setting his napkin back down.

Jisung narrowed his eyes at his friend and looked towards Minho for backup. Sadly, he was blatantly ignoring him even though he was straight in front of him. It didn’t seem like he had any disagreements with the accusation if he were even listening in the first place. He was too busy being engaged in his own conversation with Chan about the things he saw last night.

Felix pulled Jisung in close by an arm around his shoulders. “It’s okay, Sungie. You can still talk to me and I’ll listen.”

“Thanks, babe,” Jisung smacked a hand down on Felix’s thigh. “You’re the only one I can trust to listen to me.”

  
  


**Jisung**

@hansome

Felix is the only one I trust 😤 Everyone else is an imposter

**Felix** @fabulix

Oh hey! Yeah let’s play that after this

  
  


After breakfast was over, Jisung and Felix went up to the latter’s room to play a few rounds of Among Us. Since the large amount of food made Felix feel all sluggish, he would have to wait for a while until he would feel up to doing something active. Hyunjin fell right back asleep the moment he hit his bed, leaving Seungmin and Jeongin to do their own thing. The three hyungs all went together back to the slopes.

“You know,” Chan exhaled through a smile. “I'm extremely proud of Minho for overcoming his fears.”

“Yeah, hyung. You’re surprising me too,” Changbin agreed as he turned to Minho only to find him missing. He stopped dead in his tracks and looked around. “Wait. Where did he go?”

Chan stopped as well and looked around, not seeing his friend anywhere. “He was just here a minute ago… Do you think he got cold feet?”

“But he was doing so well,” Changbin frowned before he noticed someone to the side approaching them in something close to a hop.

Minho was bouncing back towards them with a cat hugged in between his arms. There was a giant smile plastered across his face as he showed his friends what he found. “Look! Look! They kind of look like Dori, don’t they?” He nuzzled his face into the cat’s fur in a childlike manner. The only major difference between his Dori and this cat was the latter had much longer fur. It was ideal for this type of cold weather.

“Where the hell did you find a cat?” Changbin asked in astonishment as to where the creature came from. Sure it was common for cats to roam freely in Korea, but it was a bit shocking to him to find them at even a resort. Then again, he didn’t know anything about cats.

“He was just sitting by that wall over there watching me,” Minho halfly pointed with a finger behind him. He held the cat up in front of him so he could observe him better. “I felt him watching me so I had to go over there. Isn’t he so nice and cute? I love him.”

“I can see now why Jisung gets so jealous of your cats,” Chan joked as he moved a hand to pet the cat’s head, causing it to vibrate under his touch. “But they are cute.”

Carefully Minho shifted the cat in his arms until he was holding it the same way someone would hold a baby. Surprisingly enough the cat was perfectly fine with being coddled by him. The other two didn’t know if it was just because the cat was used to people or if it was just the effect Minho had on cats in general.

Changbin draped his arms around Chan, hanging his head down low. “Hyung, I’m going to die from the cuteness, help me.”

“I thought you were a dog person?”

“I’m not talking about the cat, I’m talking about Minho hyung. Just _look_ at him. When do you ever see him like this?”

Minho was currently in his own little world as he played around with the thick fur on the cat’s tummy. The creature in turn was enjoying every minute of the affection by the way it was purring with its eyes rested shut. Minho lowered his head down and kissed its nose and once more atop its head before finally setting them on the ground for them to be free.

“Should I tell Felix you’re falling for Minho?” Chan nudged Changbin in the side jokingly.

“Hey,” Changbin smacked his arm. “Don’t joke like that. If anything, you should tell Jisung he’s being replaced by an animal.” He rested a hand on Chan’s shoulder, giving him a soft look. “You’re good at letting people down easy. I think you should be the one to tell him.”

“Tell me,” Chan rubbed his chin in thought before pointing between Changbin and the cat who was rubbing its body against Minho’s legs. “Is the animal you’re referring to the cat or yourself?”

“Hey, hey, hey,” Minho intervened, stepping in between the two of them. “I’m not replacing Jisung with anything no matter how needy he can be. I don’t think I could handle anyone else. I especially might end up strangling Changbin.”

“I was just joking.” Chan put his arms around his two friends before he resumed their route to the ski lift. “But you know, Changbin’s definitely into that. He went through it once for a recording.”

“No… that was you,” Minho corrected. “I remember because I was staying over that night and I walked into what I thought was Bin trying to kill you.”

“Oh yeah…” Chan laughed nonchalantly, remembering now. “You should have seen the look on your face.”

  
  


**Changbin**

@spearb

He doesn’t realize he just outed himself as a masochist but we’ll just pretend like we didn’t hear that

**Minho** @meowho

This is what happens when you practically live with him

**Changbin** @spearb

@meowho I breathed??

**Minho** @meowho

I understand everything now

  
  


**Jisung**

@hansome

I no longer trust Felix 😢

**Jeongin** @notyouroppa

??

**Jisung** @hansome

@notyouroppa He killed me in cold blood 😤

**Jeongin** @notyouroppa

If he hadn’t, I would have 😏

**Jisung** @hansome

@notyouroppa You’re not even playing???

**Jeongin** @notyouroppa

A game?? I thought this was just your spirit tweeting

  
  


**Jisung**

@hansome

Hyunjin has corrupted my babie

**Seungmin** @songmin

At least he’s asleep right now so he can’t argue

  
  


“Felix! You traitor!” Jisung yelled as he smacked his so-called _friend_ repeatedly with a pillow as the other just laid there and laughed. “I thought we were soulmates! I trusted you!” He fell face first into the bed, groaning loudly into the blankets.

After so many rounds of helping each other out, Felix finally got a solo imposter position and very ruthlessly killed Jisung’s character during the first task he was doing alone. Right as he had done the deed Jisung’s mouth had fallen to the floor as he stared at his ghost floating on the screen. The next thing he knew, Jisung was hitting him with a pillow while sobbing.

“Awe, Sungie~ I just had to do it,” Felix claimed as he crawled over to his pouting friend to sit on his butt. “It was the perfect opportunity,” he giggled before leaning down until he was at Jisung’s ear level. “Would a massage make it up to you? I’ve gotten better.”

Jisung was silent. Would a massage make it up to him- of course it would if it was coming from Felix. Even without hearing anything, Felix already knew the answer and proceeded to roll up Jisung’s shirt until it was at the base of his arms. With a mischievous look on his face; though Jisung couldn’t see that since his face was flatly in a pillow, Felix traced his index finger around in a small circle right below the left shoulder.

“Ah, Sungie, what did you do to yourself? You got a nasty looking bruise here.”

“What?!” Jisung popped his head up and craned his neck as if he could see where Felix’s finger was. He looked back up to his face to find Felix trying to stifle a laugh from coming out.

“I’m kidding! I’m kidding!” Felix shoved Jisung’s face back into the pillow so he could start pressing his palms down into his muscles. “You’re so gullible. And so quick to call yourself out too.”

“I wasn’t calling myself out,” Jisung argued.

“If you weren’t guilty, you would have called my bluff,” Felix pointed out cheekily. “You see how that works?”

Jisung wanted to keep arguing but could do nothing when Felix smoothed out a knot in his back. “Fuck…” he sighed out before moving his head until his ear was pressed into the pillow. “You know Lix, I have a feeling that our boyfriends conspire with each other.”

“No, they definitely do,” Felix confirmed with no hint of shock in his voice. “For two people that are always at each other’s throats, they sure do text each other all the time.”

“They’re _always_ talking,” Jisung waved a hand into the air for emphasis with hardly any effort. He dropped it back down in thought. “I know it’s Changbin hyung that’s been giving all of these ideas to Minho hyung.”

“Touché,” Felix laughed softly as he pressed against Jisung’s spine until he heard the small pop he was waiting for, followed by a small groan from the back of Jisung’s throat. After moving his hands all along Jisung’s back once more, Felix asked, “am I doing too good of a job? Are you not going to want to go to the indoor waterpark now?”

“Are you kidding?” Jisung asked, picking his head up again. “I heard there’s a surfboarding thing there.”

“You can’t surfboard though?” 

“I’m about to learn today, aren’t I?”

  
  


**Felix**

@fabulix

I feel it. I can feel that something may happen

**Jisung** @hansome

A good time? I feel it too

**Hyunjin** @hwangjin

Both of you aren’t very good at staying out of trouble 😒

**Jisung** @hansome

@hwangjin get out of here, Hwang

  
  


“Isn’t this great, Felix?” Jisung had his arms out over his head in excitement before dropping them down to pull his friend in close to him. “It’s just the two of us alone, doing whatever we want to do,” he exhaled through a big smile, taking in the very spacious indoor waterpark. It was definitely a lot bigger than the outside of it made it appear to be.

Felix returned the bright smile to him as he slung his own arm over Jisung’s shoulder. “I’m surprised the others haven’t come here yet. But that just leaves more for us. Come on, what do you want to do first?”

Surveying his options, Jisung hummed in thought. There were water slides that wrapped halfway through the building, a wave pool, a wading area that included a playset with a giant bucket of water that would crash down every so often, a lazy river, and of course, the surfboarding area. There was no way that Felix would allow him to go straight for surfboarding. He was skeptical with the way Jisung didn’t even know how to do it. In the end after much thought, Jisung grabbed Felix’s hand and made his way for the wave pool.

Maneuvering through all of the little kids, Jisung doggy paddled his way to the innermost part of the wave pool. He had just reached the line blocking swimmers off from going any further when Felix came into view beside him. The waves hadn’t started yet so the only motion in the pools were from everyone swimming around. Jisung took this time to lean onto his back, his life jacket solely keeping him above the surface.

“I think it would be cool to have inner tubes here,” Jisung meditated as he slowly bobbed up and down with the water around him.

“It’s too small for those,” Felix pointed out as he playfully dipped Jisung a bit lower under the surface; not enough to bring his head under, however. “Plus you wouldn’t be able to fit in one with the life jacket.”

The rules for the indoor waterpark was that everyone; no matter your age, had to be wearing a life jacket. You wouldn’t be able to get through to the actual area without first putting one on. This rule also rid any use of inner tubes, much to someone's dismay. There was only one water slide that used a raft as a means to go down it.

Even without the presence of inner tubes, Jisung was still having a blast being swept away by the raging artificial waves. As more distance was growing between the two friends, Felix let himself be sent back a few feet just so he could stretch an arm out and clasp his hand to Jisung’s. He pulled him back towards him. Together they very gradually made their way back to the furthest point. Once the waves had finally died down, they let themselves float backwards to exit the pool.

Felix swung their hands in between them as he decided the next destination would be the water slides. He chose the one with the raft to start off with and would go to the other two afterwards. The two of them stopped at the beginning of the stairs to team lift their two-person raft before ascending to the top.

“Do you want to be in the front or the back?” Jisung asked once they finally were next up.

“I’ll be in the back,” Felix offered as he moved to take that spot. He sat as far back as he could and spread his legs so Jisung could sit in between them.

“Keep everything inside the raft at all times and keep a hold onto the handles,” the worker instructed before sending them down the slide.

“Wah! It’s so dark!” Jisung yelled as soon as they were encased in the darkness of the enclosed slide, voice echoeing throughout the slide. Felix could no longer see his friend sitting in front of him. It wasn’t until a dim light appeared that he could see anything at all.

The raft slid into the cone-shaped dome where they began to go all around in it, turning each and every way that the water would take them. The circles of it all were starting to make them dizzy, but Felix snapped back into it when he noticed he would be facing backwards as they were leaving the cone.

“Wait! Wait! This isn’t how we should be facing!”

He tried to lean in the raft to make them face the right way again but they were already making their way down the steep slope before he could get it turned. Quickly he wrapped his legs around Jisung’s waist for extra security and slumped forward towards him as they shot down the slide and finally into the pool.

Without realizing, Felix had shut his eyes and completely squeezed onto the boy in front of him for support, bracing himself for the rocky movements of the raft skidding across the water. Only once he felt it slide into a stop did he allow himself to peek his eyes open.

“Lix? Did you get scared?” Jisung questioned with his head turned towards him. He wore an amused expression on his face as Felix jumped out of the raft, splashing Jisung slightly in the process.

“N-no!” Felix denied as he reached to pull the raft behind him on his way out of the pool. Jisung hopped out of it to help him carry it back to where they got it from. “I just wasn’t expecting to go backwards like that,” he claimed, slinging the raft back onto the stack.

Jisung cooed as he reached a hand to lightly pinch Felix’s cheek. “Awe~ You _did_ get scared!” He annoyed through Felix slapping his hand away. “You’re so cute, Lixie. It’s a good thing you have a hyung that loves you and let’s you hug them when you’re scared.” He put a hand over his chest as he breathed out a proud sigh.

“You’re right,” Felix agreed, nodding along to his statements. “Chan hyung is a good hyung.”

“Hey!” Jisung lightly smacked Felix’s arm. The expecting look he was receiving was enough to make him stop playing. “Whatever. Let’s go race on the slides. I’ll get on one and you on the other.”

And so that’s what they did. Felix, having picked the shorter slide, made it out before Jisung did. He sat waiting at the pool’s edge for Jisung to come barreling out of the slide. Jisung’s emergence was much less than graceful as he caught the water just right for it to flip him in the water.

Trying to play it off, he merely doggy paddled back to the shore. Once in shallow water, he hopped up and slung an arm around Felix’s shoulders to drive him in a certain direction.

“Let’s at least get in line for the surfboarding, hm?” Jisung cocked his head at him with a smile. With the way the line was looking, it would be a short wait until they would even be able to do it themselves.

“Alright, alright,” Felix gave in. “But I’m going first.”

Once it was finally Felix’s turn, Jisung gave him a small pat on the shoulder and watched him step up to where the board was waiting for him. Carefully and by the help of the attendant, Felix managed to step flatly onto the board without losing balance. As soon as he was positioned, he was backed up into the raging water shooting out at him.

He kept his head down, watching his feet and legs to make sure he wasn’t stanced uneasily. As he gained confidence, he looked back up to the rope he held onto. Jisung was ogling at him from the side, amazed by how well he was doing. Even though his movements weren’t completely suave, he was making it look so simple. Without letting much time pass him by, Felix let go of the rope to ride the wave on his own.

Impressively, as Jisung thought, Felix was able to last another minute on his own before he finally made his way to the edge of the set. There he was able to hop on to the side and let the board be swept towards the back where it could be retrieved. He slinked off of the platform so that he could move to watch Jisung take his turn.

To say the least, Jisung was a bit intimidated to go. Felix had done so well so he thought he would have to live up to those results. There were so many people in line watching him, after all. In shaky movements he approached the board and watched it move slightly from where the back end of it grazed the water.

“Sungie!”

Jisung threw a look behind him to see Felix waving at him and giving him a thumbs up.

“Just relax and try to feel it,” Felix advised. “But if you fall that’s okay too because I’ll be here to give you a hug!”

Jisung pouted his lip out and put a hand over his heart in endearment. He could always count on Felix to lift his spirits and encourage him. With his positive energy, he could let himself take on surfing.

Just barely did Jisung manage to steady himself on the board. He was clutched into the attendant’s arm as he tried to get himself straightened out. This was _much_ harder than Felix had made it out to be. The board was already touching the water and effected by its movements.

It took him a bit of time, but eventually he was able to go backwards just a bit to fully be in the water. Without a good balance, he rocked side to side, holding tightly onto the rope so he wouldn’t fall. He bit the corner of his lip harshly as he tried to control himself. After what seemed like forever, he finally found the will to release the rope from his grasp.

Not making it very much longer, Jisung saved himself from falling by hopping off of the board and shimmied off to the side towards the exit. He didn’t have an embarrassing wipeout and that’s about all he cared about at the moment.

“Felix~” He cheered as he skipped over to where his friend was waiting for him. “Did you see? I was pretty good wasn’t I-“

He hardly got the last of his sentence out before he tripped over his own foot, falling to the ground. The good news was, he caught himself before his face could smack against the hard floor. The bad news was, it was his left knee that caught him.

“Oh, shit, Jisung!” Felix dove beside him into a crouching position. “Jisung are you okay? Let me see.”

He helped Jisung sit on his butt and turn his knee towards him. Thanks to the way the flooring not exactly being the smoothest to aid people in not slipping, the tiny ridges had cut into his skin. Felix tried to wipe away some debris from the open wound but Jisung moved his hand away before he could reach it.

“I’m fine, I’m fine,” he winced unconvincingly, trying to get up but not being able to use his left leg to hoist himself up. He slumped back down after a failed attempt of standing and looked at his hands. The edges around his palms were slightly scratched, but nothing more than that. He simply wiped them off on one another.

“You’re not fine though,” Felix frowned at him. “Look at you. You’re bleeding. It’s on the ground too.”

It was just a slight stain smudged against the tan surface. A little bit of water would get it off no problem. As far as Jisung’s knee went; he needed to get it cleaned and Felix was going to get that taken care of himself.

“I’m taking you to get that cleaned up, just lean on me,” Felix instructed before he stood, pulling Jisung up with him. He slung one of Jisung’s arms around his neck and he held his free arm around his waist. Jisung kept his hurt knee bent the entire way he hopped to the tiny clinic area.

Jisung slumped down on the chair offered to him as a staff knelt in front of him to inspect his knee. It didn’t seem fractured or anything, but it was throbbing in pain and most definitely going to bruise later. Jisung knocked his head back to avoid seeing anything being done to him. He twitched greatly at the first hint of antiseptic being applied to him.

“Ahhh fuck that fucking _stings_ ,” Jisung hissed, putting his free hand over his face to try and will himself to keep still. How could he be so careless as to let himself get hurt? And by what? Over absolutely nothing on the ground? He couldn’t believe his luck.

“Does it really hurt that bad?” Felix asked from where he held Jisung’s hand for comfort. It was a bit of a dumb question. The force on his own hand was a well enough answer. Just seeing the wound getting cleaned caused a shiver to run through Felix’s spine.

“It feels like a jellyfish touched me there,” Jisung elaborated. When the attendant began to bandage his knee he sucked in a breath then flicked his eyes towards Felix. “I’m sorry, Lix. I didn’t mean to cut our time short. You can stay here if you want to and I’ll head back myself,” he offered with a sullen look in his eyes. Mentally he was beating himself up over this. They still had plenty to do here, but now Jisung couldn’t complete it. At least not right now.

“Hey, Jisung, no. Don’t worry about it, okay?” Felix rested a hand on his shoulder with a heartfelt look on his face. “I’m going to help you back to the hotel and we can hang out again in my room.”

“Are you sure? I’ll be okay by myself. Or maybe Innie or someone would be there,” Jisung suggested but Felix was already helping him up.

“We’re soulmates, remember? What kind of soulmate would I be if I left you to hobble all the way back to the hotel by yourself? I’m staying with you.”

Jisung felt a small smile spread across his face as he watched Felix. Hearing those words made all of his insides turn to goo. Leaning into him, he wrapped his arms around Felix’s frame in a warm hug before whispering, “I love you, Lixie.”

The two of them thanked the attendant for doctoring up Jisung’s knee before they headed to where they stored all of their things. Jisung managed to get himself dressed by himself despite Felix offering to help. The former assured him that he could handle such a simple task. This was despite making Minho do it just yesterday.

On their way out, Felix stopped suddenly and squatted in front of Jisung. Not having expected him to stop so suddenly, Jisung tilted over a bit, but was still able to keep upright by placing a hand on Felix’s head.

“What are you doing?”

“Get on my back,” Felix offered. “It will be easier.”

It didn’t take much mulling over before Jisung did just as he was told in climbing on Felix’s back and letting his arms dangle around his shoulders. He was confident in Felix’s abilities of being able to carry him. He’s done it so many times before, so the walk back to the hotel would be no problem for him.

Jisung didn’t care about the onlookers who watched him ride on Felix’s back like some baby sloth. He was too busy with his head nuzzled in the crook of Felix’s neck, taking in the extra heat radiating onto the front of him. To say the least, he was extremely comfortable in this position. Almost enough to let himself take a short nap on him. Almost.

Jisung did however take a nap in Felix’s room. He was laid smack dab in the middle of the king sized bed, surrounded by all of the lush pillows the room had to offer. Felix had shoved a pillow underneath Jisung’s left knee just to make sure he wouldn’t put any pressure on it. Felix was in the middle of readjusting some of the pillows when he heard the door open.

Before Changbin could even get all the way inside the room, Felix ran over to him to shush him. Changbin froze in his space, blinking wildly at him with wide eyes.

“W-what? What? What is it?” He whispered as quietly as he could but still to where Felix could hear him.

“The baby is sleeping.”

Changbin blinked again with furrowed brows and took Felix’s face in his hands to look him over. Maybe he had some sort of concussion? They didn’t have a baby. Suddenly he thought about the cat Minho found outside. He held Felix’s face closer and asked in a serious voice, “Felix, did you bring a cat in here?”

“What?” Felix asked, perhaps a bit too loud on accident. He heard Jisung shift in the bed quietly, but since he didn’t say anything, Felix figured he was still asleep. He smacked Changbin’s arm out of frustration. “You’re going to make me wake up Jisung with your strange questions.”

“I’m sorry,” Changbin apologized, holding his arm even though the small smack didn’t at all hurt him. “Why is Jisung sleeping?” He knew the boy liked to lounge around, but this was an odd place for him to do it. Surely something at the resort would deter him from taking a midday nap.

“He hurt his knee at the waterpark. It looked painful.”

Changbin was already heading towards Jisung at the sound of that. He stopped at the side of the bed and observed his sleeping figure. Every single pillow in the room was now surrounding him. The boy looked extremely spoiled right now and he knew it was Felix’s idea.

“What did he do?” Changbin asked, containing a low volume as he eyed the slight bulge on Jisung’s knee from the bandages under his pant leg. He fought the urge to reach out and touch it. Felix would surely hit him just for that.

“He got excited and tripped when he finished surfboarding without falling.”

Changbin stifled a laugh by coughing and turning away. He could definitely picture Jisung hurting himself from getting too excited about something. It was just that he was duly noted as being accident prone.

“I guess just let him sleep there. I’m taking a shower before we go eat,” he said as he began taking his coat off and laying it over the back of a chair.

“I’ll bring you some clothes in a minute,” Felix smiled, planting a small kiss on his cheek.

Returning the endearing smile, Changbin lightly pulled Felix closer to him by the small of his back. Tilting his head ever so slightly, he leaned his face in close and whispered, “take one with me?”

Delicately Felix draped his arms around Changbin’s shoulders and gazed into his eyes. A playful look danced around in them as he shook his head once. “I’m taking care of Jisung.”

“Sung is asleep,” Changbin quietly noted, hoping that would sway Felix’s mind a bit.

Moving himself onto his toes, Felix leaned forward to catch Changbin’s lips with his own. He stayed like that for a second before bringing his lips next to the other’s ear and saying in his deep but hushed voice, “later, I promise.”

Without even a breath of further arguing, Changbin nodded in compliance. If Felix would really rather be with Jisung to make sure he doesn’t somehow roll out of the border of pillows and hurt himself, then Changbin wouldn’t push him away from it.

  
  


By the time Changbin got out and dressed, Jisung was still sound asleep in his mound of pillows. Felix was laid on his side on the outer rim of the pillows, playing a game on his phone with much concentration. He should have known better than to think Jisung would have actually woken up on his own by this point. Carefully Changbin crawled onto the bed beside him and nudged his arm after letting him sleep for just a little bit longer.

“Hey Jisung,” he called out and nudged his arm again.

Jisung stirred awake, catching a hitch in his breath as his dreams evaporated in front of his eyes. Blinking a few times, he rolled his head on the pillow to look at Changbin.

“Oh, hyung,” Jisung greeted sleepily as he rubbed at his eyes. “This bed is comfy. I think I’ll sleep here tonight.”

“Sure, you can,” Changbin shrugged, seemingly fine with the idea. “Do you want to stay up here? We’re all about to go eat, but you don’t have to go if you hurt too much. You can order room service instead.”

Jisung laid his arms down on the pillows in thought. He hadn’t expected that sort of response. Especially the thought that Changbin would invite him to stay in his room for the night had never crossed his mind. Jisung could only imagine Minho hearing of that and come marching up to the room. He snickered quietly at the thought. If he wanted to, he could actually skip out on meeting everyone in favor of staying in his pillow fort and eating food brought to him. He could actually be lazy for once; they would allow it. As wonderful as it sounded, Jisung knew better than to actually skip out on together time. 

“No, no, I’m going with you just like everyone else,” he assured as he began to roll out of his divot and make an attempt to stand on his own.

Felix moved towards him just in case he had to catch him, but Jisung had managed to put both feet down himself. Jisung played around with bending his knee to see how it would react to all of the movement. Thankfully, the only thing that would hurt it now would be if something came into contact with it.

“We’re good. I’m good,” Jisung raised a hand up, signaling the okay to head out. “Let’s go, I’m starving.”

By the time the trio made it to the restaurant, their friends had already gotten a table and their drinks. They waited for the rest to come before they would let themselves order anything to eat. Felix and Changbin sat across from Hyunjin and Seungmin as Jisung took the empty seat beside Minho, who sat at the very opposite end diagonal from Hyunjin.

“You look unwell,” Felix noted about Hyunjin as he got a closer look of him. Leaning closer to him now, Felix could see the other’s eyes looked ever so slightly puffy and there was a faint dash of red on the tip of his nose as if he’s been bothering it.

“It’s dumb catboy over there,” Hyunjin muttered, shooting a glare in Minho’s direction. “He rubbed a cat all over him before coming here and now my face itches.”

“That’s untrue,” Minho complained from the other side. “I didn’t ‘rub it all over me,’ I just pet it. And be quiet, I moved all the way over here for you.”

Staring into Minho’s soul, Hyunjin propped an elbow up on the table and pointed a finger at his own face before declaring, “you gave me the uglies.”

Seungmin nudged him in the arm with his own as a way of telling him to let it go. He didn’t need Hyunjin to start another quarrel. “I gave you a pill just a little bit ago. You’ll be fine soon.”

Huffing, Hyunjin pulled his hands back into his lap, fighting the urge to rub at his eyes and make them even puffier. He just needed the allergy medicine to kick in and save him. He was so thankful that Seungmin always had anything he needed at his disposal. He swore the other secretly had Hermione’s purse.

“Come here, Hyunjin,” Jisung held a hand out to him, offering to smack his face. “I’ll make your face feel better.”

“Don’t be the instigator, hyung.” Jeongin pushed Jisung’s hand back to himself. “You can’t fight here.”

  
  


At some point in time of talking amongst themselves, Minho dazed out of the conversation and sat a hand atop Jisung’s knee. He hadn’t meant anything by it except for wanting to have contact with him after not seeing him all day. He hadn’t expected Jisung to react in such a negative way.

“ _Bitch_ ,” Jisung yelped out unconsciously, flinching at his touch. His hand flew to his mouth the second the word slipped out. He expected Jeongin to kick him under the table for it. The younger _was_ sitting straight ahead of him after all. It just so happened the suddenness of the word and tone had startled everyone at the table and caused them to stare right at him in a dead silence.

“What did you do?” Chan was the first to speak up as he fixed his eyes on Minho.

The one in question had already yanked his hand back to him and encased it in his other, unsure of what he did, himself. Scared to do anything, he was frozen in his seat eyeing Jisung in perplexion. He had never heard Jisung curse him for physical contact before. In fact, he’s always welcomed or encouraged it. But right now, he was scared and didn’t have a single muscle in his body giving him the okay to move.

“I- sorry, I didn’t mean to say that,” Jisung waved his hands in front of him, suddenly anxious by the way everyone’s eyes were all on him. “It’s just that you touched my knee and I kind of busted it earlier…”

“You what?” Minho asked, now even more concerned but for a different reason.

“He got too excited, hyung,” Felix filled in. “He fell straight on it.”

“Why didn’t you call me?” Minho prodded with a slight frown. He eyed Jisung’s knee despite him not being able to see the condition of it. He hadn’t put much weight on it so it must be pretty bad. “You walked here?”

“Felix initially gave me a piggyback ride to his room,” Jisung shook his head. “But it’s okay. I can walk on it just fine now. It’s just when something touches it, it hurts like a-“ he stopped himself mid sentence as he stole a glance over at Jeongin. He cleared his throat before he let himself finish with, “it… really hurts when it comes in contact with something.”

“I told him he could stay in my room to rest and order room service,” Changbin chipped in nonchalantly. He was glad for the way that Jisung was in between him and Minho so the latter couldn’t smack him for; as Minho would call it, ‘trying to steal his boyfriend again.’

“Jisung can skip out on together time but I can’t?” Hyunjin suddenly chimed in and got another nudge to his side from Seungmin.

“Wanting to sleep in isn’t a good excuse,” Seungmin informed him as he personally shoved more food into Hyunjin’s mouth in hopes that would keep him quiet. He really was feisty today.

“ _You_ didn’t tell me he got hurt?” Minho looked past Jisung towards his best friend.

“I didn’t want to bother you in your time together with hyung,” Changbin shrugged. “Besides, all he did was sleep. You’re supposed to let sleeping dogs lie.”

“You did say that I was a dog last night…” Jisung reminded in a murmur as he watched his hands in his lap. Truthfully, he didn’t want to bother Minho about it either. He felt bad enough that he made Felix drop what he was doing so he could take care of him. He loved every minute of it, but still he had a guilty conscience about it all.

Minho glanced between Changbin and Jisung. Jisung hadn’t told him about getting hurt. If he had, he would have gone to get him. But instead, Felix played caretaker and even Changbin invited him to stay. What was worse was that because he didn’t know, he accidentally caused pain to Jisung. He just wished Jisung had told _him_.

Chan was already picking up the jealous energy from Minho, despite the one in question doing an excellent job at maintaining his null expression; save for the look of worry he gave to Jisung. His friend was the type that would initially call something bothersome but turn right back around and do whatever it was that he wanted nothing to do with. Chan wasn’t sure why he even bothers with rejecting something when in the end, he does it anyways. This was also in effect when it came to taking care of people.

Whenever he or Changbin were sick, Minho would always act like it would be the end of the world for him if he were to come in contact with either of the two. But eventually at some point in the first day of them being sick, he would show up at the door with food and medicine. Chan figured it was just because he didn’t want to seem like such a softy; that he wanted to uphold some sort of reputation for himself. But watching Minho now; knowing for a fact what goes on inside his head these days, it seemed like that all had fallen away by Jisung’s hands.

—

“I’m fine to walk, I _promise_ ,” Jisung insisted for what felt like the fifth time that night. In the midst of sending Changbin away with Felix, so Minho could be alone with Jisung for once today- Minho was drug to the walking trail that was just beside the restaurant they had eaten at. It was lit up all along its path and from there they could see the ski slopes being lit up as well. Jisung thought the scene of it all was relaxing and healing to his knee. Minho had other thoughts about what would make his knee feel better and it didn’t include any sort of movement.

“You keep saying that.”

“Because you keep giving me that look,” Jisung shot back.

“So I’m worried about you,” Minho shrugged. “Sue me.”

“Do you even have enough money to handle being sued?” Jisung raised an eyebrow while eyeing him from the side.

“I’ll just take some from Changbin. He won’t notice.”

Jisung spit out a laugh at such a response. He knew that it was just a bluff; that Minho would never take from Changbin like that, but the suddenness of such a claim was amusing to him. He smiled into his scarf as he gently nudged Minho in the arm with his body.

They walked together in close proximity to one another but kept to themselves. Even without touching, the two of them were content with just being in only each other’s company as they walked down the snowy path they were on. The lights hanging around them and no solid sounds except for the soft crunching of their footsteps through the freshly fallen snow made everything seem so dreamy. Even with the temperature being low, the atmosphere around them was warming.

Not much further down the path sat a bench off to the side under a small wooden canopy. It was directly facing the lit up side of the mountains that the residents of the resort skied down. Overhead of it was a small string of fairy lights that were strung along the roof of the canopy.

Taking it upon himself to give Jisung a break from walking, Minho made a beeline to the bench and lowered himself down on one side of it. Smiling softly up at Jisung, he patted the space beside him for him to take. With a small exhale, Jisung accepted the space, leaving no inch of room between their legs.

“I just think the view right here is really pretty,” Minho explained before Jisung could once again reaffirm his state of well-being. But it didn’t seem like Jisung had any means of doing so with the way he stared at Minho. For once he wasn’t rolling his eyes at him.

“The view,” Minho repeated, looking between Jisung and the mountains since he had yet to respond. “It’s pretty.”

“No,” Jisung shook his head once, not letting his eyes leave Minho for even a second. “I like this one better.”

He tilted his head to the side just slightly as he really engraved every last detail of Minho’s face into his mind. Minho’s cute little button nose was his favorite. Or maybe it was entrancing doe eyes behind his long lashes that he would blink whenever he was trying to process something. Perhaps it was really his smile that Jisung always tried his best in bringing out. The one that he gave to him when Jisung would catch him off guard just as right now.

“God you’re so beautiful…” Jisung breathed out in a whisper, not being able to keep the thought from being vocalized.

The corner of Minho’s mouth twitched as he tried to suppress the smile trying to sneak onto his face along with the rushing heat in his cheeks. But he couldn’t help it. Looking down, he let out a whisper of what sounded like a scoff before he stared back at Jisung. “Are you flirting with me, Han Jisung?”

“I have been for the past few months but I’m glad you’re just now noticing,” Jisung said, comfortably crossing his arms in front of him as he pulled himself away from his trance that was of Lee Minho. “I was starting to worry that you were missing it all and maybe thought I was just some good friend.”

“Just some good friend?” Minho echoed, humored by the audacity of his joke. “No, I think you really got your message across before now.” He moved his hand to pull Jisung’s arms apart so he could hold his hand. It wasn’t so cold to him that he needed gloves on so right now he could freely rub his thumb overtop of the back of Jisung’s much colder hand. The younger never was that great with containing heat and Minho wondered where his gloves went. It was no wonder Jisung had them shoved in his jacket pockets earlier.

“You’ve really affected me all this time,” Minho began as Jisung repositioned himself so he could hug onto his arm and rest his head on his shoulder while still holding his hand. With the heat equaling out between the two of their palms, Minho's hand was colder now, but he didn’t mind.

“I hope in a good way.”

“I have three cats…”

Instantly jealous by the mention of the things seemingly holding the entirety of Minho’s heart, Jisung sprung his head up. “What do they have to do with anything?” He asked, cutting him off before he could even finish the statement.

Minho shot a stern look down at him. “They have to do with a lot. They’re the loves of my life- Just listen for a second,” he huffed before adding quietly, “you’re just as bad as Changbin when it comes to interrupting me… Seungmin would never.”

Jisung narrowed his eyes at him for a moment but nonetheless nuzzled his head back on Minho’s shoulder and stayed quiet. Luckily, he didn’t have the energy in him to make a further fuss. Minho glanced down at him before he continued.

“I have three cats,” he repeated once more to restart from the beginning. “I’ve had them for a really long time. I love them all to death. But _you_ ,” Minho squeezed his hand slightly as he leaned his face into the other boy’s. “Never have I wanted to baby something more in my life.”

Jisung peeked his eyes up to look into Minho’s before sitting up straight with a confident smile on his face. “Ah… look at you. This isn’t the Minho I knew at the beginning of the semester,” he teased before adding, “what happened?”

“You. You happened,” Minho poked Jisung’s red nose. “You came kicking in the door to my life like you owned the place and started making things your own. Maybe I just spent too much time with Changbin and his simping rubbed off on me.”

“Or maybe I’m just extremely handsome and you can’t help yourself?”

“You are,” Minho nodded once. “You are, you are.” He cupped Jisung’s cheek in his free hand, rubbing his thumb over his soft skin gently. One thing he especially liked about Jisung’s face was that it was extremely soft. He never understood how he kept such baby soft skin, but he liked the way it always felt under his touch.

“That was the first thing that caught my attention, but the more I looked, the more I found.”

Lightly he swiped a thumb over Jisung’s lips, finding them to be dried by the chill air. Taking his hand back and the body heat that accompanied it, he left Jisung’s cheek to balance back out to its original temperature as he dug in his own jacket pocket. After just a second passed he found what he was looking for and pulled out his chapstick. Pulling the top off, he delicately painted it onto Jisung’s bottom then upper lip.

Once he felt like it was well coated, he put the cap on and replaced it back into his pocket before bringing his hand to Jisung’s cheek once more. Silently he leaned in and pressed his lips tenderly against Jisung’s, evening out the applied chapstick between them in a kiss.

“You shouldn’t let your lips get so dry,” Minho advised as he pulled away. “You’ll damage them like that.”

“Hm?” Jisung practically purred into Minho’s hand with half-lidded eyes. “I’m glad I have you here with me to keep that from happening. Now what else was there? Tell me.”

“Well…” Minho took his hand back as he sat back against the bench in thought. There were too many things coming to his mind. Each one resulted in the growth of his fond smile. “I found it funny how you were so bold in attacking me when you first saw me with Felix but turned right back around and apologized on his behalf.”

“That’s because Felix means a lot to me and I didn’t want to be the cause of him losing something he wanted or needed,” Jisung knocked his leg gently into Minho’s, still embarrassed about that time. “Felix to me… he’s like you with your cats.”

“I know,” Minho knocked his leg into his in return. “But just the fact that you did that let me know that you weren’t actually a bad person. You just get a little aggressive sometimes, but that’s okay. I’m the same way, aren’t I?”

“What else? Give me more.”

“I think you’re really cool with your music,” Minho offered. “Even though you mainly present yourself as a rapper, you make really sweet melodies and lyrics. I still listen to Close when you’re not around.”

The mention of his confession song brought heat rushing through Jisung’s body. He wasn’t regretful about making it, but hearing that Minho still listened to it struck something in him that pushed him back into his shy state.

“W-what? You still care to listen to that thing?”

“Why wouldn’t I?” Minho asked as if it wasn’t the most obvious thing. “You made it for me, didn’t you? I really love your voice in it. So whenever you’re away and I miss you, I play it. I probably account for half of the views on there at this point.” 

Jisung bit the inside of his cheek to keep his lip from quivering. He wasn’t going to fall apart at something so sweet. So instead he sneered lightly with, “you miss me? I find that hard to believe when you’re home with your cats.”

“Oh shut up,” Minho rolled his eyes before slowly getting to his feet. “I was going to offer my house to you when we leave this place. Maybe even make you dinner since it will be empty for a few days and I was going to bribe you to help me take care of the kitties,” he shrugged nonchalantly and gave Jisung a bored look. “But you’re right, I’ll be okay by myself.”

Jisung shot up like a rocket, going straight for Minho’s arm. “Hey, hey! Let’s not be too rash here. I think you could definitely use some help. It’s easier when there’s two people,” he explained as Minho was already leading him back towards the hotel. “Besides, I really wanted to do something so it would be easier if I were already with you.”

Minho raised a brow at him. He was a bit concerned as to what Jisung could possibly be planning. They knew each other long enough for him to know Jisung could be a bit chaotic at times. “What is it you’re trying to do?”

“I want redemption,” Jisung smiled simply. That wasn’t helping him narrow it down.

“With?”

“You’ll see when the time comes,” Jisung promised and left it at that.

  
  


* * *

  
  


“You two aren’t leaving?”

Minho was the last one at the table with Changbin and Felix on the last morning they all had together at the ski resort. Everyone else had already left to pack their things, but Changbin and Felix had made no movements to go anywhere.

“It’s just for one more night,” Changbin explained as he swirled around the liquid in his glass. “I’m paying for it.”

Minho gave him a curious smirk and playfully poked at Changbin’s leg with his foot instead of replying with something witty. “I hope you have fun.”

It was said in a genuine manner despite everything else. He thought Changbin really deserved to have at least one night alone with Felix here. With everyone else here with them, it was a bit difficult for them to really do what they wanted. 

“What will you be doing?” Changbin asked with an expecting look. “Don’t lie and say nothing.”

“I’m a little worried, honestly,” Minho admitted. That wasn’t what his friend had been expecting from him. It caused him to stop playing with his glass and direct his full attention to him. “I think Jisung is up to something.”

“What?” It was Felix that spoke up this time. “Why do you say that?”

“He told me he wanted redemption at something.”

“Ohhhh…” Felix looked away from him with a knowing grin on his face. He busied himself with drinking what was left in his drink when Minho shot an intense stare at him and leaned towards him.

“What? What is it? You know?”

Felix shook his head, clearly lying by his lack of poker face. “I do not. Jisung doesn’t tell me anything.”

“Awe, you’re so cute but such a horrible liar,” Changbin cooed as he pat Felix’s hand. “It’s a known fact that you and Jisung spill everything to each other.”

Felix swatted his hand away with little effort. “It’s nothing. Nothing exciting so don’t worry about it,” he decided. “Jisung is just being petty.”

Minho squinted his eyes trying to understand, but failed to come up with anything that made sense. _Jisung is being petty? Getting redemption? What did I do that made him petty?_ After what felt like an eternity of trying to decipher what it meant, he looked towards Changbin. “You speak his language better than I do. What is he saying?”

“ _Jisung wants his payback,”_ Felix tried in English, knowing full and well Minho couldn’t understand him. “ _He still has a grudge against you for doing what you did to him.”_ The use of multiple pronouns in the sentence instantly caused Minho’s brain to shut down. There was no way for him to figure it out.

Changbin narrowed his eyes at him, repeating the words in a whisper to try and figure them out. He’d been trying really hard to learn more English for Felix and this was his time to make him impressed. He leaned in and whispered something into Felix’s ear to where only he could hear.

Felix’s eyes widened in astonishment before he clasped Changbin’s hands in his. “You actually understood that?! I’m so proud of you~ You’re really learning fast,” he squealed, making the older’s heart melt on the spot. How easy it was for Changbin to fall at Felix’s feet. And how easy it was for Felix to do the same.

Minho’s eyes moved between the two of them rapidly. He scooted closer to Changbin so that he could rest his hands on his shoulder lovingly. “Binnie~ My very best friend that I love so much~” This was so cringey. Minho really was throwing away his pride for a moment to try and get information out of his friend.

“Who do you like more: me or Chan hyung?” Changbin asked.

“You of course~”

“Me or Jisung?”

Minho squinted his eyes slightly and applied a bit of pressure to Changbin’s shoulder as he mustered out another, “you~”

Changbin laughed once at the sight of his hyung acting so cute. Gently he rubbed his head before answering with, “I’m not telling.”

Huffing, Minho hopped out of his chair, sending it back in the process. “I can’t stand you,” he muttered before marching out of the breakfast area and towards his room. He wouldn’t get any answers here so he would have to try his next best option.

  
  


**Changbin**

@spearb

He’s so cute when he gets frustrated like that 🥰

**Felix** @fabulix

This is really fun 😋

  
  


“Hyung!”

Minho burst through the door to his shared room and went straight for Chan the second he laid eyes on him.

“Minho!” Chan replied in the same tone, thinking this was some sort of new weird game he’s come up with.

“Hyung,” Minho repeated, taking Chan’s hands away from his bag so he could have his full attention. Which he did. His sudden spike in energy claimed both Chan and Jisung’s attention, making them both stop where they were in packing. “I need you to play translator for a second.”

Chan blinked once, but still nodded in agreement. “Okay, what am I translating?”

The simple question wiped Minho’s memory clean. Suddenly he couldn’t remember what Felix had said. They were words he wasn’t at all used to hearing so they didn’t stick very well with him. Furrowing his brows, he tried his best to remember the sounds.

“ _P… pay…?”_

Patiently Chan waited for him to figure it out before translating, “pay? Is that it? Is there more to it?”

Already Minho was confused. That couldn’t possibly be what Felix had said. There was more to it. He was sure of it. Frowning, Minho shook his head and tried to think again. “ _Pay… eck? Payeck?_ Hyung, I’m trying really hard here, help me.” It came out in almost a whine as Minho shook Chan’s hands in frustration.

“What… I don’t know… _paycheck?_ Paycheck?” Chan asked, just as flustered as the other. “Do you owe someone money?”

Aggravated, Minho threw himself onto the bed face-first with a groan. He knew that wasn’t the word he was looking for. This couldn’t have anything to do with money. But what else could it possibly be? The word sounded correct enough to him.

“That damn Changbin…”

“Did you bet money with Changbin?” Chan tried again. He really wanted to help Minho get it right. 

“No, this is Felix’s fault,” Minho sighed and suddenly Jisung began laughing. He lifted his head up to see the youngest boy trying his best to stay quiet as he shoved more of his belongings into his bag. How close but so far away Minho was in figuring out the word. “Really I should say this is _your_ fault.”

Jisung looked to Chan and waved a hand dismissively at him. “Don’t worry about him. I know what he’s on about now. I’m guessing Felix told you but in English so you couldn’t understand.” He had to admit. He _really_ loved Felix sometimes. He made times like these more amusing. He moved his hands around his mouth so only Chan could read his lips. “The word he’s looking for is…” and he mouthed _payback_.

Chan made an O-shape with his mouth in realization. He didn’t have a clue as to what was going on, but at least he knew the mystery word now. By the meaning of the word, he wasn’t sure he wanted to know the context. Instead of trying any harder to figure it out, he just gave a smile to Minho. “I think you’ll enjoy yourself.”

  
  


**Minho**

@meowho

I think someone better help me get to the bottom of this

**Felix** @fabulix

Ah hyung, stop stressing so much. It’s nothing, really

  
  


**Minho**

@meowho

This is all Changbin’s fault

**Changbin** @spearb

It’s not my fault you never got hyung to teach you English 🤷♂️

**Minho** @meowho

@spearb well excuse me while I was too busy trying to learn Japanese for a promotion

  
  


The second Minho stepped foot into his home, he instantly forgot all about his worries of what it was that Jisung was petty about. Hopping out of his shoes and dropping his bag beside them, he ran over to where he found his cats all laying.

“ _You’re the one I’m dating, Jisung_ ,” Jisung said in a hushed imitating voice as he set his own bag down out of the way from the door. “ _You’re my baby and they’re my babies_ ,” he huffed, stepping out of his shoes.

Minho couldn’t at all hear his whining from where he was currently giving all three of his cats kisses on their heads. He wished he had three hands to pet all of them at once but had to settle for one by one.

“I missed you, my lovelies,” Minho cooed as he picked Soonie up and squished them lovingly in a hug. “You missed me too, right?”

Finally he started gathering them in his hands to take to his room. He headed there with Soonie and Doongie, leaving Dori behind for Jisung to get.

Jisung padded over to the smallest cat and stroked a finger against their cheek. “You’re cute, but not cuter than me,” he murmured before hearing Minho calling his name from his room. Mouth forming a thin line, Jisung lifted the tabby cat up before following into the bedroom.

  
  


“Why are you so grumpy?” Minho asked after a while of laying on his bed with Soonie stretched out on his chest. He was gently rubbing one of their paws in between his fingers as he moved his eyes to where Jisung sat on the floor.

Instead of being on the bed as well, Jisung was sitting with his back up against said bed with a sleepy Doongie in his arms. His knees were bent up to him as he hugged the cat gently in his arms. “I’m not grumpy.”

“You’re something. Now what is it?”

“How can I be grumpy when I get to see you being this cute?” Jisung asked, turning his head just enough to glance back at him. There was a delicate smile painted on his face. He really couldn’t be in any sort of mood when he was in Minho’s room with the cats.

“Ohhh?” Minho cooed with a soft grin on his face. Gently he removed the orange and white cat from him before rolling over. Hanging just barely off the bed, Minho reached his face down to kiss Jisung’s cheek. “I think you’re cute too. And I know you enjoy being with the kitties. It’s my two favorite things in one. The only thing that would make it better would be a scary movie.”

“Absolutely not,” Jisung rejected without missing a beat.

Minho let out a small breath of a laugh next to his ear. “Alright, I’ll spare you. But what was it you wanted to do? Since Felix would never tell me.”

“We have to go somewhere for it,” Jisung replied with something close to a mischievous look. “When you get there, you’ll understand.”

Minho watched him quietly for a second before swinging his legs off the bed. “Help me feed the babies and I’ll let you take me wherever it is you're trying to go.”

  
  


**Jisung**

@hansome

It’s my time to SHINE 🤩

**Felix** @fabulix

Shining would be the last thing you’d want to do

**Jisung** @hansome

@fabulix I- you’re right. Wrong word choice

**Felix** @fabulix

👍

  
  


“Wait. Are you being serious right now?”

“We’re here, aren’t we?”

The thing Minho was so worried about was laser tag. Jisung had led him all the way back to the very first place they had met at. The place that immediately made Jisung not like Minho without even knowing who he was.

“So when you said you wanted redemption because you’re still petty…”

Jisung crossed his arms in front of him in a stern stance, nodding along. “It wasn’t fair. I was trailing behind Lix and _you_ threw me off my game. I couldn’t win because of you.”

Laughing now, Minho put a hand on Jisung’s shoulder to keep himself steady. “Jisung, that was ages ago! How are you still upset over that?”

“I came in sixth place because of you!” Jisung smacked his arm to get his hand off of him.

“That’s strange. I was third.”

“Oh shut up and just give me my rematch,” Jisung huffed before physically dragging Minho into the building by the hand.

He didn’t have to drag Minho like he was. The older was more than happy to oblige in playing against him again. If Jisung wanted to redeem himself in getting a higher score than before, he would let him try.

Jisung took it upon himself to put themselves into separate teams. He wanted the conditions to be just the same as they were initially. If he was getting over his grudge, he was going to do it right.

As they were waiting on their game to begin, Minho rested his chin on Jisung’s shoulder while lazily hugging him from behind. “You didn’t want to team up with me this time?” He hummed in his ear. “That’s harsh, I thought we were boyfriends. Partners in crime,” he elaborated.

“Teaming up with you won’t help me,” Jisung brought a hand up to pet Minho’s head. “I need to be against you. Only then can I even things out.”

“You sound determined,” Minho noted, gazing at him with interest. “I think that’s hot.”

“Stop flirting,” Jisung scoffed as he watched the timer on the big screen above the game entrance reach zero. Once the announcer called everyone for the next game to the room, Jisung moved away from Minho and didn’t wait for him to follow.

“Oh?” Minho mused with comfortably crossed arms. He allowed himself a moment to watch Jisung walk away from him. Cocking his head just slightly to the side, Minho put a small smirk on his face. He made a mental note to watch him like this again. The view was good on his eyes.

“It’s game on, Han Jisung.”

The two no longer acted like a couple the second they walked through the door of where all of the equipment was. Minho thought Jisung made it clear enough that the two of them would be playing to win. Not playing to help each other out. They stood on opposing sides of the room eyeing each other as the instructor said their usual spiel.

Having already heard the instructions plenty of times before as he’s been here many times over the past few years, Minho put all of his attention on Jisung. He wore that same cocky look on his face that he did at their first encounter and it caused something in Jisung to snap. The younger mirrored the look back with narrowed eyes before stepping away with everyone else on his team to enter the arena first.

Jisung was grateful that his team was granted first entry. It only worked well into his plan. If Minho had gone in first, Jisung wouldn’t doubt that he would have hid near the entrance just to see where he would have gone. Instead of doing that himself, Jisung merely headed towards the very back on the first level. Everyone else would most likely want to claim a spot on the top level as it’s the best spot to see much of the floor. It’s easy points as long as no one comes up behind you.

When Minho finally made an appearance into the room, he wandered towards the stairs. There was only a minute for him to find a good starting point before the game would start. He wanted to beat Jisung for a second time in a row and he wanted to tag him as many times as possible. No, he was not about to go easy on him. The only issue was where to find him in the midst of 20 people. Last time just happened to be by pure luck.

Music began to spread through the arena as the game started, signaling the players that their equipment was officially up and running. Slowly at first, Minho poked around up on the top floor. Though there were a few members of his own team there, it was mainly dominated by his opponents. They had been sure to use the first entry to their advantage in securing a large part of the area. The only disadvantage to this was, it was far more likely to have their points stolen from them by a teammate that was quicker.

On the plus side for Minho, he was able to snag many shots for himself before ever getting hit. The downside, none of them were the one he wanted to tag the most. Taking cover from his first shot, Minho snuck towards the furthest end of the upper level. In the process he was able to get a few more shots in by shooting at those he could see on the ground floor. He lingered for a moment to see if he could spot Jisung anywhere. It was hard to tell through the distance and darkness. The only major defining feature that would distinguish Jisung from the rest would be the beanie on his head. But everyone he saw there was without one.

With no one in sight for the moment, Minho slid over to the wall that had a screen mounted to it that showed the current scores of everyone. Hovering his finger down the list, Minho found himself to currently be in 5th place. It wasn’t bad considering the total number of participants being 20. Dragging his finger down lower, he looked for his rival. His fingertip pressed gently down on HAN written in all capitals on the screen with the number 8 beside it.

“Pft- he’s doing even worse than before,” Minho quietly laughed to himself, though he too had also moved down in ranking. There was still plenty of time left to change the pace of everything and he was determined to come out on top.

Minho dared to move back into enemy territory along the top level. Unknowingly to one of his teammates, he was stalking behind them a few feet, using them as a shield for himself. By slipping behind the walls as the person walked through, he could figure out the opponents were. With this method, he was able to score each person before they could even see him. As his points ranked up and time slowly began to dwindle down, he made heed for his final mission.

He had been aching to score a point on Jisung since the game began. After covering every inch of the top and glancing down below, he decided his prey _had_ to be hiding somewhere down there out of sight. For the last time he snuck a peek at the scores. A smirk appeared on his face when he saw his initials lit up beside the number one. It wasn’t a surprise to him with the way he had been playing so ruthlessly; using other people as the bait to find where exactly his targets were by following the lines of the laser. His reflexes were impeccable and allowed him to move away from the enemy’s line of shooting the second he noticed them. Drifting his eyes down lower, he found Jisung to be maintaining his 8th place.

“At least he didn’t go down in ranking… but still I expected more,” he sighed. To say the least, he had hoped for Jisung to threaten his ranking with his own. He looked so dedicated to getting his rematch and he wasn’t even rising in rank. Suddenly thinking about it now made Minho’s heart twinge slightly in his chest. After a small pat to it, he pushed the melancholy emotion away and continued his mission. It wasn’t his fault that Jisung wasn’t winning. He hadn’t even tagged him.

Moving more quickly now, Minho made a beeline for the stairs. If he were going to accomplish what he wanted to, he would have to leave his advantageous location and find Jisung. Watching his surroundings as he went down, he shot at a couple people that were nearby, causing them to bolt out of the way and take cover. Stepping onto the ground floor now, Minho veered to the side so he could move backwards from the stairs instead of straight ahead of them. He only made it a meter away until a hand grabbed onto his vest and pulled him backwards.

He was shoved back against the wall in the small space under the stairs with a thud. With a wall behind him, the slant of the stairs starting to his left, and a person straight ahead of him, he was cornered. He was just about to break the fingers that were grabbed onto the front of his vest when he noticed the word _SUPREME_ threaded into the owner of the hand’s beanie that was glowing under the black light. Han Jisung and that damn favorite brand of his.

“God damn, I thought you would _never_ leave from up there,” Jisung exasperated quietly to avoid being heard by anyone else. He wasn’t at all worried about being seen. With the way everything was stationed, there was only one angle where they could be seen from. But even then one would have to be looking to notice. He had definitely thought this through. “Do you know how long it’s been that I’ve loitered around here for you to come down?”

Jisung’s face was right in front of Minho’s, his warm breath just grazing him. He had long since held his gun. The forgotten thing was dangling by its cord where it was connected to his vest. With the hand that wasn’t clutched in Minho’s vest, he slowly slid it up Minho’s neck until it rested softly on his cheek.

Minho opened his mouth to respond but all words failed him when Jisung bent his good knee and pressed it between his thighs until he reached the wall. There was no moving now. He was completely immobilized.

Cocking his head to observe Minho's bewildered state now, Jisung decided he reminded him of a deer caught in headlights. It was even more so resembling with the way Minho had those pretty doe-eyes of his. Jisung knew he had him with all of his defenses down. A sly grin appeared on his own face, the black light causing him to resemble the Cheshire Cat. He then closed his eyes and the distance between them. He sucked softly on Minho’s bottom lip and nibbled at it, slowly causing him to open his mouth and grant him entry.

Jisung gradually deepened the kiss, fighting the urge to grin into it at the feeling of Minho completely surrendering under his hands. Feeling Minho’s body weight just slightly pressing down on his knee Jisung knew he had him right where he wanted him. He was hopeless in this game now with the little time they had left. Maybe Jisung too didn’t have much hope left with securing more points, but at least he secured his revenge.

While still distracting Minho with his mouth, Jisung slid a hand away to replace his gun back into it. Slowly parting away and leaving Minho completely breathless, Jisung pressed his gun right against Minho’s center censor and pulled the trigger, earning himself a point. Because of the close proximity and lack of error in hitting it, it would surely bring him a higher amount of points. 

“Bye, baby,” Jisung whispered before slinking out of the small space and running off to raise his rank before the clock ran out.

Minho, with his hands falling limp at his sides, could only stay there in astonishment as the lights on his vest blinked between red and white. Legs losing their strength, he slowly slid down the length of the wall until he was planted onto the floor. His breathing was off by a beat as he tried to make sense of what just happened. It would surely take him three to five business days before he could process what entity possessed Jisung.

Time was running out now. Taking up his gun again after a second to stabilize his breathing, Minho moved out into the maze again. This time around his game was thrown off. Jisung had most definitely hindered his laser tag abilities. Before he made much progress in getting himself back into the game, the music overhead stopped and the match was over.

Huffing, he trudged back towards the way they all came in. Though he didn’t want to believe it, he had a good feeling that his score had gone down. Removing his vest from his body, Minho dropped it back down on the rack where he got it from. He marched all the way out of the room until he was standing in front of a very proud looking Jisung who’s attention was fixed on the final results showed on the large screen above the entry door.

“First of all, Han Jisung,” Minho pointed an accusing finger at Jisung’s chest, prodding it harshly. “What the fuck was that?”

“That,” Jisung remarked simply while closing a hand over his assaulter's finger. “Was what I call _payback_.” He said the word in English, instantly earning himself a change in expression from the other.

“ _Pay...back…?_ ” Minho repeated slowly, trying to work his mind around it. He knew it’s what Felix had said now but he still couldn’t figure out what it meant.

“You cost me my game and I cost you first place,” Jisung explained, turning him to see the screen. Minho had dropped down to 3rd place while Jisung was stuck at 6th. It was just as they had been initially. “Payback. Plus you got me so irritated back then. I think seeing you so flustered back there evened that out too.”

Minho watched him for a moment, silently mulling everything over in his head. “This was never about winning for you, was it?”

“I _was_ a little down that I was stuck at the same ranking even now- that’s your fault for making me wait so long down there- but how can I really be so upset about that if I’ve really already won?”

“Won?” Minho repeated, not following. “You didn’t win. You placed sixth.”

Shaking his head, Jisung slowly entangled his arms in one of Minho’s until he was hugging it with his chin on his shoulder. “But I _did_ , baby. I got you in the end and you’re my prize. The grand prize. So I did win.”

Minho wanted to scoff at him for being so cheesy and push him off his arm, but he couldn’t bring himself to do it. Instead, a fond smile fell over his face as he lightly touched foreheads with him.

It was ironic to him. The way that the two of them blended together. Jisung had grown in gaining more confidence in himself and his actions whereas Minho found himself being soft more often than he would like to admit. Over the time they had been together; and without realizing it, they were equalling each other out. They brought out the best in one another.

“How’d you even know it was me? You could have pulled some unsuspecting rando.”

“I knew because I saw the silver bracelet on your right wrist,” Jisung said, sliding his hand over Minho’s wrist to play with it in between his fingers. It was one that Jisung had personally gifted to him. “No one else had anything shining on that wrist.” He let out a small giggle before touching noses with Minho. “I told you it was a good luck charm.”

For some odd reason, Minho just couldn’t let go of Jisung’s hand the entire way back to his house. Even now as he laid in his bed with Jisung halfly laying on top of him, he just couldn’t stop the physical contact. He had confiscated Jisung’s beanie and received complaints about it. But the second Minho combed his fingers in his hair that was now trying to return to its original brown color, Jisung zipped his lips and adhered to Minho’s petting.

Going back to the first place they met and Jisung semi-recreating their first moment- their first technical kiss- Minho’s mind had been sent backwards into an entire showcase of all their memories. His mind didn’t forget a single detail. 

He remembered seeing him for the first time again. How there were so many emotions he experienced back then from being in awe that it was actually him to being appalled but impressed with the way his first words were curses to him for their accident. He remembered going back to his dorm with his heart and head in a frenzy because it really was him that he ran into. He remembered sneaking glances of him whenever he was around and wondering just exactly who he was. He remembered running to Chan’s dorm to tell him and Changbin that he had actually found the boy he ran into at laser tag. His friends had never seen him look so excited since he first got accepted as a paid backup dancer for a popular group.

But remembering these times also came remembering the bad times as well. That after so long of watching quietly he just had to screw it up. He thought he had been getting close to where he could confess. The time Jisung came in after one of his excruciating dance practices where he completely forgot about his own tiredness the second he saw Jisung had cut his finger on one of the pages of his notebook. When he took him to the bathroom to make him wash it before putting a Hello Kitty bandaid over the cut he thought maybe, just _maybe_ , he could have brought up the topic there. When Jisung had called the choice of bandaid cute, Minho wanted to call Jisung cute too. But he didn’t. He didn’t know how to act at the time and continued to keep it to himself.

If he had just been braver and quicker in telling Jisung that he had feelings for him, he could have avoided so much hassle and heart ache. But he just wanted to wait for a better time. It made it to where the only time he could tell Jisung the truth was after he had already gone and made the boy hate him. At the time, he didn’t feel like he had much of a chance. He couldn’t even bring himself to confide in his friends then just because of how low he felt about himself and his actions.

But he remembered hanging onto every last ounce of hope that he had. He remembered listening to his friends’ advice in just sitting still and not trying to approach Jisung. He remembered not being alone in the situation because Seungmin and Hyunjin decided to get themselves involved with talking to Jisung. Even Chan and Changbin had done their fair share in trying to distract him. He guessed he should also be grateful to Jeongin and Felix too as they helped Jisung figure his mind out.

But best of all he remembered waking up to a flood of notifications, all directing him to Jisung’s latest tweet. He remembered just wanting to sleep for a little bit longer and getting so irritated by the constant noise of his phone that he finally gave in. And he will never forget the way he felt when he heard Jisung’s song for him.

It had all felt like a dream to him. That maybe he had drank way too much and was then experiencing some wild hallucination from not being able to see or think straight. He remembered playing it over a few times just to make sure that that _was_ Jisung and it _had_ been his own account name tagged on the post.

He remembered not being able to remember how to breathe. He remembered not being able to remember how to properly think. He remembered running straight towards his door in search of Jisung only for him to be standing just on the other side lying in wait for him. He remembered how nervous Jisung had been and how he couldn’t bring himself to meet his own eyes as he tried to form a coherent sentence as to why he was there. But lastly, he remembered how it felt like everything was suddenly falling into place the second he pulled him in and embraced him. Finally Jisung was his.

Back then he wasn’t sure why he was so desperate to keep his hope. To keep any chance for him having Jisung. But now he did. Just having Jisung in his presence gave him so much peace. He was the touchstone he’d always needed. He had the ability to pull out the goodness in him. And he was so very grateful for every way that he has helped him.

Sweeping Jisung’s hair out of his face, he could see that his eyes had fallen closed. The slowed rise and fall of his chest led him to believe that Jisung had fallen asleep. How very easy was it for Minho to relax him to the point of slumber by something as simple as stroking his head.

Craning his neck just enough and careful not to wake him up, Minho placed a ghost of a kiss down on the top of Jisung’s head before whispering, “I love you so, so much, Han Jisung.”

  
  
  


**Minho**

@meowho

Him.

[ image attached ]

**Felix** @fabulix

Sungie 💕

**Chan** @cbang

Awe… my best friend has become so sentimental ☺️

**Hyunjin** @hwangjin

Gross.

  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Catch me showing back up with more the day I see this fall off the first page of highest SKZ word count because I really am, just that petty. No I’m kidding. Maybe.
> 
> Hhhhhhh... words really can’t describe how I feel about ending this story. I just kept procrastinating and hoping I wouldn’t ever have to. But at least I ended it on a nice, even chapter number.
> 
> I want to say just how thankful I am to each and every one of you that read this thing start to finish. Those of you that left such thoughtful comments that I would be straight sobbing at work or in class over them. I know this is not the best story ever. It’s not even close to the best SKZ AU there is. I know my writing style isn’t the prettiest nor does my mannerism make everything burst with emotions or passion. But thank you all SO SO MUCH for always supporting me and this story.
> 
> I started this as just something to implicate as an emotional outlet. I didn’t have but hardly any readers but I kept at it. But all of the growth it’s gotten- it’s truly helped me so much. Not just emotionally speaking, but physically too. During the week that I didn’t post this chapter, I read through the entire work. I can clearly see where my writing has improved over the past year. It really was almost a year that I’ve been working on this without break. That’s insane to think about, really!
> 
> But it’s all because of you guys! You guys make me want to push myself to keep writing every single day when I have the chance. To read over each chapter so many times until I have basically memorized it just to be sure it’s good and enjoyable. I want to continue like this. So thank you! ❤︎
> 
> Again, I really hope you liked this story and the ending I’ve settled on. I hope I did it some justice in the end. I also hope that you guys will continue to look for my future works. I have a Changlix AU in the makes now. I’m not sure when I will start posting it as I haven’t even finished the first chapter yet, but I hope you will find me then too~
> 
> Please please please leave me any sort of comments about the finale. I’d love to hear your thoughts about how I did and how you felt about it. Anything at all~
> 
> I love you all, kind souls ❤︎ I hope you all stay well and happy and healthy
> 
> Until next time!
> 
> Here’s that new AU: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28550859/chapters/69965274


End file.
